Fragments of a Shattered Mirror
by Sargent Snarky
Summary: A remnant of the corrupted Morganna possesses Kite in order to reap revenge. Events quickly spiral out of control as the unthinkable happens and Kite, the one responsable for bringing his friend and others out of comas, himself falls into a coma. COMPLETE
1. Prologue

**Fragments of a Shattered Mirror**

_Author's notes:_

Disclaimer: I do not own any more of the .hack conglomeration than copies of the games, manga and anime. This plot happens to be mine, but allusions and references are made to events within the games/anime. And I do change things about the after-game things that happen (such as tweaks with the return of the bracelet and the heading off to Hidden Darkside Holy Ground to reclaim Mia...). So, if things aren't exactly canon, do forgive.

About reviews: I LOVE reviews. I really do! Even if they're flames. That said, I'd appreciate more than a sentance for a review. Maybe tell me what you liked or loathed about my story? That's always a start... Anyway, suggestions, comments, and critiques are wanted and welcome.

There will be romance in this fic. Hetero pairings, as I don't write slash.

Warning! "R" rating for violence, abuse, some sexual content.

_Author's added as of November 29, 2005:_

I have begun to edit this story, clean up some plot discrepencies and otherwise attempt to polish it up. Wanna help? Drop me an email!

* * *

_Prologue_

"Well, that's the last of the repairs for this field and dungeon," sighed Lios, surveying the green sward before him and actually smiling. He was pleased with the progress. Though the corrupted data was no longer spreading, much less active, there were still patches of raw data showing here and there through the scenery in some feilds. Also, other signs remained of the contamination that has so recently been defeated thanks to a fourteen year old boy. Floating lines of shifting code, the occasional data bug turning monsters into demented immortal demons. But, the progress of eradicating the viral remains was splendid.

"Hurrah!" cheered another administrator who had been assisting in the reparations. "Let's see now, this was Omega, Splendid Nobleman's Emerald, correct?"

"Indeed."

"Right then... I've checked it off. Shall we move on, sir?"

"Yes."

The two warped out of the field, disappearing in identical golden rings, a set of three each. However, unnoticed by them, a flash of raw data sparked, then faded. And then is appeared again, followed by a few others. A malicious will could be felt if one stood there, gazing at those data patches, but no one was there, not yet and not for a while.

Upon the digital breeze, words crackled in a voice that once might have been a woman's, but now was fuzzy and barely audible. "I will reap my revenge... They shall pay... The child, the Keeper of the Bracelet... all of them! I shall reap my revenge..."


	2. A strange invite from a malicious will

Fragments of a Shattered Mirror

Disclaimer: I do not own any more of the .hack conglomeration than copies of the games, manga and anime. This plot happens to be mine, but allusions and references are made to events within the games/anime. And I do change things about the after-game things that happen (such as a tweak with the return of the bracelet and the heading off to Hidden Darkside Holy Ground to reclaim Mia...). So, no flaming!

About reviews: I would LOVE to have at least one person who reviews every chapter and gives me feedback other than "It was wonderful" or "It sucked." Suggestions, comments, and critiques are wanted and welcome.

Chapter 1  
_Kite – Real World_

_Have we done it? Have we really done it, restored the World to how it was meant to be? I don't know, not yet. There are still corrupted monsters and data pollution scattered throughout the World, though their numbers are diminishing. Hopefully, we will be able to eliminate these completely, soon..._

A short, thin boy of almost fifteen lay sprawled across a bed in a small bedroom. The bedroom was his and it showed; a picture of the entire family, this boy included, rested on the bedside table and a photo of he and a couple friends rested next to it; a poster of a soccer team was tacked upon the wall, and a soccer ball was on the floor beneath it. A sweatshirt lay rumpled on the floor at the foot of the bed, across from his desk. It was a black desk made of dull metal or sturdy plastic – useful, but not decorative. Upon it rested a thin computer monitor (the bulky sort having become obsolete almost before this child was born) and the computer itself rested underneath on the right side. In front of the monitor were a wireless mouse, a controller for a video game and a headset that included a viewing screen, microphone and earphones, though the speakers were so small as to be undetectable to the casual glance. On the left side of the desk, there was a small rack containing the boy's most used software, though one jewel-case and disk lay to the side, the words "The World" easily visible in runic sort of writing.

The boy sighed and ran a hand through his black hair, which needed trimming for it hung down into his eyes, even with the glasses he wore. Then, he rolled off the bed and stood up, his feet clothed in socks and making little sound upon the blue carpet. Pushing a pair of oval glasses back up to their perch at the top of his nose, he sighed once more and began to walk towards the door to his room. However, as he passed his computer, he paused, gazing longingly at it, especially the headset and the copy of The World. Why did his mother have to insist upon no video games until after dinner? She hadn't done it two months ago and more when he, as the player Kite, had been spending hours and hours trying to save the world, so to speak. Why now?

The teenager knew why, though. He knew it was because his mother had finally decided that it was an obsession, an addiction that needed to be cured. His argument that he had been trying to help Yasuhiko was not withstanding. His mother replied with pointing out that Yasuhiko was better now and on his way to complete recovery. She went on to point out that at least she didn't force him to play only an hour a day.

As he walked out of the bedroom, down the hall, and down the stairs, he briefly entertained the thought of arguing his case once more, but he knew it would do no good. Besides, it would only remind him that Yasuhiko's family was moving in one month. Yasuhiko's father had gotten a job promotion that required him to move to a Japanese island other than the main one of Honshu. The entire family would be moving with. This thought depressed both boys for they were brothers in every way save blood. Their own parents had been friends for many years and the boys had grown up together. This would be a sore parting. But it was best not to think of such things now. The two were determined to enjoy every moment of each other's company for the entire month.

"Kite," called the boy's mother from the kitchen. "Is that you?"

His nickname had always been Kite and that is what everyone called him. He had used that as his name online because it saved him from confusion and made it easier to get into his character.

"Yes, mother," he replied, stepping into the kitchen to see his mom sifting through the freezer, picking out something for dinner that evening.

"Oh, good. Can you do me a favor?"

Kite didn't bother to answer. It wasn't as if children had a choice when their parents asked them to do something.

"Will you set the table, please? Thank you, sweetie. If you'd like, you could invite Yasuhiko over for dinner."

"O.K. But Yasuhiko can't come tonight. He said that he and his family were going out to eat with a few friends. Apparently it is the birthday of one of his dad's coworkers."

"Any other friends you'd want to invite then? You seem kind of down and it might be nice for you to have some company."

Kite shook his head as he retrieved chopsticks, napkins and bowls from the cupboards, then set them up upon the low table. He then returned to the shelves to take a few other implements and place them on the table.

"There are friends I'd want to invite, but they live too far away to come to dinner, now," he mumbled.

"All right, then, dear," replied Kite's mother, gazing at her son with a mixed expression that was difficult to read.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Finally, dinner was finished and Kite was released to return to his room. Pleased both by this and the fact that he had complete his homework during school, he all but ran upstairs. Once there, he switched on his computer and took a seat at his desk chair, twitching with impatience. Maybe his mother was right after all... Maybe it really was an addiction...

Ah well... Either way he inserted the start-up disk for The World into the disk drive and picked up the headset. After selecting the icon from his desktop with the mouse, he picked up his controller and waited for the machine to connect him with the rest of the World, but he didn't enter his name and password to log in just yet. It suddenly occurred to Kite that he ought to check his email. Therefore, still using the controller, but pushing the headset above his eyes, he opened up his email.

The first message was from Blackrose, telling how her tennis match went and asking after his soccer season. Kite replied with the usual amenities, though he had a longing to say so much more, and moved on to the next email. This one was from Yasuhiko, saying that he wouldn't be able to get on that day or the next because of things. His friend didn't specify what things, but Kite knew well enough. More preparations for the move.

The third mail, however caught the boy's attention. It specified no sender, but after reading the message, Kite felt that there could be no other sender than Aura. However, little did he know that this was incorrect. The message read as follows:

"_To the one who wielded the Twilight-_

_Come to Delta, Bursting Passed Over Aqua Fields. I have something to give you._

_Thank you."_

The message puzzled the boy slightly, but so had most all of Aura's messages. With a sigh, he pulled the headset back over his eyes and selected the command to log in. Entering the username Kite and the password soccerfreak, he clicked a button and grinned as a rainbow of colors signaled the transfer of his character to whichever root town he had logged out of last. This time it happened to be Mac Anu, the root town of the Delta server.

_Kite – The World_

A trio of golden rings lifted up from the ground and disappeared, leaving a young red-clothed twin blade with teal hair and green eyes. An odd floppy hat with ear flaps sat atop the somewhat spiky locks and a cream turtle neck was beneath the red vest, tucked into a belt holding up a pair of red pants, which were tied just below the knees. Odd yellow-gold designs were traced across the pants, his hat and the vest.

His shoes clicking upon the stones, Kite ran turned around to face the ever spinning Chaos Gate. Looking into its blue depths for only a few moments, he activated it and warped to Bursting Passed Over Aquafield.

Materializing upon a grassy sward, the boy glanced at a small map in the corner of his vision. With a nod to himself, Kite started off towards the dungeon, the lack of portals bothering him not at all, at least outwardly. In his heart, however, he had the slightest misgivings. Entering the short dungeon, the boy hurried along the corridors and down the stairs, his foreboding growing, but remaining ignored. At last, he reached the second floor and, passing through the opposite doorway, Kite came out in a crossroads. He walked forward, but just as he passed through the middle, there was a crackle of static. Kite paused.

And then there was a second crackle of static and the twin blade cried out in alarm as the dungeon stones disappeared and a floating island surrounded him. Looking around him in horror, Kite espied a girl much like Aura, but with a black dress, black hair and gray skin.

"Come," she whispered, beckoning with an outstretched hand.

A soft glow appeared in her hand and a large book appeared, almost identical to the one Aura had given to Orca was it really only four months ago? Hesitantly, all instinct screaming against this, Kite stepped forward, coming up to the girl.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"I am called by many names. You may call me Dusk," she replied, holding out the book to him. "Please take this. The power it holds has the power to bring forth either salvation or destruction at the whim of the user. You know what it is."

Kite shook his head, backing away. This Dusk frightened him, though he didn't know why. A sad pleading expression filled the girl's face for a moment and Kite paused, thinking that maybe she was related to Aura in some way. Dusk floated closer to him, still holding the shining book.

"Please? Aura wanted you to have it..." she said.

Hesitating for another moment, Kite then nodded. "All right."

The book disappeared with a gentle white glow and a polygonal bracelet formed around Kite's wrist. At the same moment, he cried out in pain, eyes widening as the boy doubled over, clutching his head. With a final groan, he slipped into unconsciousness. Dusk grinned a terrible grin, revealing a row of pointed fangs and a crimson glint in her eyes. And then she stepped over to Kite and held a hand over him.

Closing her eyes, she hissed, "Revenge will be sweet..."

Then a beam of blackness fell down from her hand, into Kite. While it lasted, the girl faded until she was nothing but the echo of a malicious cackle drifting on the zephyrs.

* * *

AN: Ok then... the prolog and first chapter... yay! Please Read and REVIEW!!! (see note about reviewing at the top of the page)  
  
To make life easier for me, I have decided that for most of the players a nick name or their actual name is what their username for the World is based upon...  
  
For those of you who have read others of my fictions:  
Some of these other fics have their dark spots, their angsty or bloody chapters, but this story shall be much darker... Therefore, be warned! And I'd like it if you'd please reveiw this... please?  
  
Random thing I looked up: Hotaru means Firefly...  
  
For name referance (these are the ones I've decided so far):  
Kite - Kite  
Elk - Hidezki  
Blackrose - Akemi  
Tsukasa - Amaya  
Kazu - Kazuo  



	3. Plight of an elk, Introduction to friend

Fragments of a Shattered Mirror

Warning: Majorly long chapter...  
Disclaimer: I do not own any more of the .hack conglomeration than copies of the games, manga and anime. This plot happens to be mine, but allusions and references are made to events within the games/anime. And I do change things about the after-game things that happen (such as a tweak with the return of the bracelet and the heading off to Hidden Darkside Holy Ground to reclaim Mia...). So, no flaming!

About reviews: I would LOVE to have at least one person who reviews every chapter and gives me feedback other than "It was wonderful" or "It sucked." Suggestions, comments, and critiques are wanted and welcome.

Chapter 2 _  
Elk, Mimiru, Tsukasa – the real world_

_I miss you so much, Mia! I could confide in you, tell my troubles and be comforted... But you're gone... And now I have most need of your strong presence... It's so lonely... oh Mia, where are you?_

_- Elk_

"Get out of my way, show-off shrimp."

The command came from behind, so a boy, too short and thin for his age by far, turned around, looking up into the beefy face of one he would never call a friend. The boy didn't have any friends, at least not in the real world, so he couldn't expect anyone to intervene. It was probably too late to avoid getting beaten up now anyway.

"Why, Yaku?" sighed the little boy, feigning apathy, though he was frightened, as always, by this other boy who insisted upon tormenting him.

"You're the smart one, Hidezki, why don't you tell me?" sneered Yaku.

It was true, the small boy was the smartest one in his class, taking advanced courses in nearly every subject, though these classes covered things beyond what the entrance exam for high school required. However, the intelligence wasn't something Hidezki was proud of. Others teased him for it, secretly or openly jealous and hateful. Therefore he tried to hide his intellect, or at least hide himself. It resulted in him having no friends to speak of. It also resulted in him becoming a fast runner, fast as an elk someone had once said.

Now, Hidezki didn't bother to answer, but shifted his stance for a better position at running. On the sidewalk he was on around the corner from school, he knew that if he ran back there, the others wouldn't follow him. If he ran home, then the others would indeed follow him and they knew no one besides Hidezki was home at this time. The boy barely prevented a shiver coursing through his body at this thought.

"What, isn't the teacher's pet going to answer?" asked another boy who had followed Yaku over with several others. They now began to form a ring around Hidezki, trying to cut off an escape.

"Leave me alone," hissed the small boy, narrowing his green eyes behind a pair of oval tortoiseshell frames.

"No," replied a third boy who had come behind Hidezki. "And we aren't going to let you run away, little elk, not this time."

"I said, leave me alone!"

"Why?" asked Yaku. "Because otherwise you'll cry? You'll start spitting tigrinometry (Hidezki mumbled, under his breath, "Trigonometry." But he went unheard.) problems at us? Ha... Let's get him."

Hidezki cried out in alarm as, faster than he could bolt, one of the boys jumped forward, grabbing Hidezki's legs and tackling him to the ground and causing the satchel he was holding to be thrown forward, the books it contained scattering. With a clink, the boy's glasses went flying onto the pavement, but their sturdy frames didn't break or bend, thankfully. However, Hidezki could not retrieve them for, though he struggled to crawl away, another boy grabbed his arms and lifted him up so that his legs dangled off the ground, forcing him to kick and flail in a last effort to avoid being pummeled. The boy did manage to kick Yaku in the face and give him a bloody nose, but that was all before the first hit from another boy landed in his stomach and it landed hard. Hidezki groaned in sickly pain, trying to curl up almost involuntarily. It was a good thing lunch had been a while ago, otherwise he might have thrown up. As it was, he felt he was going to anyway.

The teenager, who had hit Hidezki's stomach, grinned and pulled back his arm to punch again, but Yaku said the next hit was his. Therefore, it was Yaku who punched the side of Hidezki's face and giving him a bloody nose, if he hadn't actually broken it. Hidezki bit his lip to keep from crying out this time. It would only encourage them. Another punch landed on his stomach and his shoulders ached from the awkward position in which they were held. More hits and smacks came, but Hidezki was slipping into a dull haze.

"What the hell are you doing to him?!" cried a female voice.

"Leave him alone," said another.

The beating halted as the boys turned to see who had spoken. A tall, slim girl with long blue-black hair pulled back into a pony-tail stood there, stormy gray eyes glaring at them through a pair of round wire-rimmed glasses. Next to her stood a girl with dark brown hair, honey brown eyes and no glasses, glowering at them as well. At first the boys, save Hidezki who was semi-conscious and without his glasses he couldn't have seen the pair anyway, simply stared, open-mouthed. No one, except teachers, had ever tried to defend Hidezki before. Therefore, since these girls were obviously students, though one was not from their school, the boys were unsure what to do.

"Who are you?" asked Yaku, after a moment.

"Why do you care?" snapped the bespectacled girl, the one who had spoken second before. "No one else does. Now, let the poor boy go!"

The brunette gave her friend an odd look, then stepped forward, brandishing a fist threateningly. "Just because we're girls, doesn't mean we can't hurt you..." she threatened.

"Umm... I know you. You're Mimiru," said Yaku to the brunette, taking a step back. "Fine, then. Take the scrawny elk. We couldn't care less."

With a nod to his 'henchmen,' Yaku turned and began to walk off. The others followed him, one throwing Hidezki at the two young women's feet. The boy landed with a thud, groaning and curling himself into a ball. The gray-eyed girl gazed at Hidezki a moment before stepping forward and kneeling down next to him while Mimiru watched to make sure the boys left. The former set down her books and picked up Hidezki's glasses..

"Hey," she murmured, shaking him gently with one hand while holding his glasses out to him with the other. "You're safe now."

Hidezki eyes, or rather one eye as the other was swollen shut, flickered open and then widened in surprise, glancing at his glasses then at the girl who held them out to him. The boy took the spectacles and fitted them on his face again.

"Who are you?" he asked, not able to get up just yet.

"My name is Amaya," replied the girl, retrieving a handkerchief from a pocket in her skirt. She handed it to the boy. "Use this for your nose. What is your name?"

"H-hidezki," replied the boy, holding the cloth to his nose and slowly sitting up, though he winced with even the smallest movement. "Thank you for getting rid of them."

A half smile flitted across Amaya's lips a moment, then disappeared, replaced by the strange sad regretful look of before. "Can you stand up?" she asked.

"I think so," muttered Hidezki. "They've never beat me this badly before... I..." He trailed off into silence, glancing over at Mimiru, who was gathering his scattered books and putting them back into his satchel.

Amaya nodded and stood up herself, then offered a hand to Hidezki. He took it and rose slowly, coming barely to the shoulder of the girl, though she was barely a year older than himself. Mimiru came over to them her backpack on her back and Hidezki's satchel over one shoulder.

"Hey, you all right now?" she asked.

"I think so," he replied. "Though I'm rather bruised and, ugh..."

Try as he might, he couldn't help but moan softly.

"Do you live far?" asked Mimiru, concern filling her face.

Hidezki nodded. "But no one is ever home, now. Mother has to work."

"Mimiru, what about your home?" suggested Amaya. "Your family's apartment is only a block and a half away."

"True. D'you think you can make it that far?"

Hidezki nodded again.

"All right then," said Mimiru, smiling broadly. "Let's go. I'll carry your bag for you and Amaya can help you if needed."

- -

A slow walk, the climbing of a flight of stairs and the opening of a door later, the three were in Mimiru's apartment.

"Mom! I'm home! Can you come here?" she called.

"Hello honey! I thought you and Amaya were going to get ice cream," came her mother's voice from down the hallway. Presently, Mrs. Kurosawa came out from the kitchen, dusting her hands off on her apron. She smiled at Amaya, then espied the bruised and battered Hidezki. "Oh dear! You poor child! Mimiru, who is this?"

The woman bustled over to the boy. "Come on, let's get you cleaned up. You two go on into the living room."

"This is Hidezki," said Mimiru. "Some idiots from my school were beating him up."

"Hidezki Moro? Aren't you in seventh grade? The child taking the college courses?"

"Yes, ma'am," murmured the boy as he was lead into the kitchen.

"I've heard about you. You ought to get along well with Amaya. She's taking college courses, too," said Mrs. Kurosawa. "Anyway, as long as you're here, would you like some cookies? You'll have to wait a little while because I've only just put them in the oven..."

The pair disappeared into the kitchen, Mimiru's mother acting the part, showing the kindness and love to Hidezki that she would have shown to Mimiru. And Mimiru smiled after her. Amaya gazed longingly after her.

"I wish that I could have parents like yours," murmured the girl, pushing her glasses up her nose. "They are so kind and loving."

"What are your parents like? You've never actually said," stated Mimiru, setting down her backpack and Hidezki's satchel against the wall and sitting down upon a couch. Amaya set her bag down next to the other two and following her friend to the couch.

"Parent. Mother died when I was very young," murmured Amaya, obviously uncomfortable with this topic.

Nevertheless, Mimiru pressed on, curiosity driving her. "But what about your father? I've never seen him and you never talk about him..."

Amaya remained silent, gazing at the ground. Mimiru prompted her, saying, "Well?"

"I don't want to talk about that bastard!" snapped Amaya, suddenly.

For a moment Mimiru gaped at her, then she said, "Uh.. All right... At least you didn't disappear like you used to in the World."

There was silence for several moments, before Mimiru broke it with the exclamation, "You should get along well with this Hidezki, he's just like you, taking college courses... You people are too smart."

Grateful for the change of subject Amaya smiled vaguely and replied by saying, "Not too smart. Maybe it's the rest of you who are too dumb?"

"Hey," replied Mimiru, glaring at her friend. "I'm not dumb! Just because I'm not a frikin' genius..."

"Genius requires a certain IQ, above 160, if I remember rightly, and, as I have not tested my IQ, it is impossible to say whether I am a genius or not. Therefore, you have no basis in your assumption."

"Oh shut up, Amaya. Or I'll start calling you Tsukasa again. By the way, as I've told you so many times, you really ought to start playing again! The whole incident with the girl and the problems with the server is over. You won't get trapped again, I promise."

Amaya shook her head. "Again, no! I don't want to! You just don't understand..."

"Look, I know you still are haunted by it, but the only way to conquer your fears is to face them. Come on, Amaya," pleaded Mimiru. "Besides, if you did get trapped again, you wouldn't be alone. Me and Subaru and Bear would all be there for you."

"I know," sighed Amaya. "But, still... You can't... you don't... know what I feel... what I remember..."

Mimiru opened her mouth to say something further, but was interrupted by her mother and Hidezki entering the room. Blood had been cleaned from the boy's face and bandages had been applied to his face. Mrs. Kurosawa had also given him two ice packs, one he held to his stomach and the other he held to his nose. The woman herself carried a tray upon which was a plate of warm chocolate chip cookies and three glasses of cold milk.

"Now, I'll leave you three with the cookies and milk. I'll go call your home, Hidezki," said Mrs. Kurosawa, her voice as bright and cheerful as Mimiru's.

"No one will be home," he answered, his voice somewhat bitter.

"I'll call anyway, you never know. In an hour or so I can drive you home, if you wish. But you can decide that later."

With that Mrs. Kurosawa set the tray down on the coffee table and swept out of the room. Hidezki stumbled forward and half-collapsed on a big comfy chair next to the couch.

"You're mom is very nice," he said. "Thank you for bringing me here."

"No problem," beamed Mimiru. "Actually, you should thank Amaya because she's the one who saw you and demanded that we go over and help."

"Thank you," said Hidezki, turning to Amaya.

She was gazing at the wall, her mind obviously wandering, but Amaya turned back to the boy and gave him a half smile. "I can't stand people getting beat up by others who feel the need to assert their masculinity."

"Mimiru-san, might I check my email, please?" asked Hidezki after a few moments of silence.

"Oh, sure!" she said, standing up and picking up the tray. "You can check it in my room. I'll bring the cookies with us because I'm sure I'm not the only one who wants one."

They traipsed after her, down the hallway and into another room. The room was furnished with a bed, covered in blue sheets, a nightstand, a bookshelf, a desk and a desk chair. The walls were a light blue and the carpet was a deep midnight color. On the walls were posters of a few different bands, a calendar and picture frames containing photos of friends and family. One picture on her desk in particular attracted Hidezki's attention. Within the frame were two pictures, one a group of people, including Mimiru, Amaya, a younger kid, a girl in a wheel-chair, an older man and an older woman. The other was a screen shot from the World showing the same number of people plus one, consisting of a smiling heavy blade who bore an uncanny resemblance to Mimiru, a tall, broad shouldered blade master, a grinning twin blade with green hair, a heavy axe-woman with wings, a long arm, and two wavemasters. One wavemaster was a blond woman who was smiling like the rest, but the other was staring off into space, his purplish gray eyes filled with a strange sadness, making Hidezki think immediately of Amaya.

Mimiru sat down at the desk and turned her computer on, while Amaya took the tray from her and set it on the nightstand. Amaya glanced at the picture Hidezki was examining and sighed, swiftly looking away as if what she saw pained her or stirred up memories. She took a drink from her glass of milk and sat down on the bed.

"Do you both play the World?" asked Hidezki as Mimiru quickly checked her own email.

"I do," said Mimiru. "Amaya used to, but not anymore. I'm the heavy-blade in that screen-shot and Amaya's the wavemaster with the staff like a shepherd's crook. Do you play?"

Hidezki nodded, looking back and forth between Amaya and the picture. The eyes of herself and her avatar were almost exactly the same, save the wavemaster didn't wear glasses and Amaya's own eyes weren't tinted lavender. "I play a lot. It's the only place in which I have friends, really," he sighed. "Actually, my character design is pretty similar to Amaya's, but the colors are different as well as many of the details."

"What's your user name?" asked Mimiru as she typed up a reply to an email from someone named Bear.

"Elk," replied the boy, setting down the ice packs and picking up a cookie and a glass of milk. "Yours?"

"Mimiru and Amaya's Tsukasa," replied Mimiru, logging out of her email account. "Go ahead and log in, now."

Mimiru rose and joined Amaya seated on the bed. Hidezki sat down at the desk chair and entered his name and password for the email. He had four new emails. One was an add for S.P.A.M., a disgusting canned meat product. Another was from Kite asking how things were and answering a question Hidezki had sent him the day before. The third was from Balmung, asking for suggestions on research sites for a project he had been assigned, but the fourth email was what held Hidezki's attention. It was from Aura.

The boy's eyes widened and he leaned forward as if that would somehow make the email open a little faster. The message ran thus:

"_Elk-_

_Another birth is about to take place._

_But something is going to try and stop it. This must not happen._

_Go to Omega, Hidden Dark Side Holy Ground."_

"I've got to go home!" said Hidezki, logging out and turning swiftly from the computer, staring at his new friends with earnestness that amazed them.

"Now? What for?" asked Mimiru. "Has something happened?"

"Well," began the boy, fidgeting. "I think someone important needs help... And I've got to help her! It might... She might... She might be talking about Mia..."

Not quite following, but pressed by his urgency, Mimiru nodded and stood up. Amaya, however, remained seated a moment longer, gazing at him curiously.

"It this in the World?" questioned the girl, at last standing up.

Hidezki nodded.

"I can help you, then," said Mimiru. "If you want..."

The boy shook his head. "No... thank you, but..." He trailed off, a pained, worried expression on his bruised face.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

Later, Hidezki, with a package of cookies from Mrs. Kurosawa, was at home, seated in front of the computer, waiting with impatience as it booted up quickly, but not quick enough. Mimiru, told by her mother that she ought not to play games until her school work was finished, did not log in, but did her math homework. Amaya went home, walking slowly. When she arrived, relief coursed through her body to find that her father's car was not in the driveway.

The girl unlocked the front door and entered in, locking it shut behind her. Then, Amaya made her way to her room, barring that door shut, for the lock was broken. Her room was the only place in the entire house that was neat and orderly. The rest was filled with disarray, things broken, shattered. Glass was scattered across much of the living room floor, reflecting any who passed through like fragments of a shattered mirror. Fragments of a shattered mirror... That described how Amaya felt most of the time, too...

Turning her mind from these thoughts, the girl looked at her computer, then at the box sitting next to the desk, the box that contained the software, the controls, the headset for the World. Her eyes lingered upon that box for long moments before she turned them away and sat down upon her bed. She picked up a book and began to read it. Gradually, however, her eyelids drooped and she drifted off into a fitful slumber

* * *

Author's Notes:  
  
First of all, Happy Halloween...  
Not all of my chapters will be added this quickly, by the way...  
WOW!!! SIX WHOLE REVIEWS IN ONE DAY!!! omg! -passes out in amazement-  
  
To my reviewers:  
Dreamcaster:  
Thankyou! The reason they were both posted in the same day was that I felt that the prologue and the first chapter ought to be seperated. You'll find out what has happened to Kite in chapter 3, I promise! I've already written part of it. I love weekends and nights! Uninterrupted writing time! About my other fics: I'm kind of stuck and unhappy with life of death and am in the process of figuring out what to do with the next chapter... The sake one just requires me to be in a humorous, slap happy mood for me to finish it...

Shar-dono:  
Thanks a lot! I do indeed use a thesaurus! I abhor using the same word repeatedly unless a) there are no other words that fit quite right, b) there are no synonyms, c) I am trying to make a point or d) it's a test or busywork for school. Except for a proofread for major grammar mistakes and spelling errors, I just posted the chapter and prologue (thanks for pointing out the spelling, by the way) as it was. I suppose once I finish the story I will go back through, fiddling and editing to improve it. Furthermore, I'm expiramenting the structure of my tale, but thanks for the critisism... -glances over first chapter- eh.. It's too fresh in my mind for me to do a good proof-read and editing job...

Sesuna:  
Thanks for reviewing, Kennith, Kenneth, Kenny, Goten, Sesuna, Mr.Holt. I still haven't gotten into the dark stuff, yet, such as Amaya's dad... muahaha... I'm just mean to Tsukasa in all my fics... First she gets impaled, then she gets drunk and now we get to see just exactly why she calls her dad a bastard... er.. that's in the next chapter, by the way...

Sarah:  
Thanks for reviewing! Eh.. I hope I'm giving a good enough description of the character's home lives...

Other stuffs:

Names:  
Kite - Kite  
Elk - Hidezki Moro  
Blackrose - Akemi  
Tsukasa - Amaya  
Kazu - Kazuo  
Mimiru - Mimiru Kurosawa  
Mia - Mia (obviously)


	4. Forth into The World once more

Fragments of a Shattered Mirror

Disclaimer: I do not own any more of the .hack conglomeration than copies of the games, manga and anime. This plot happens to be mine, but allusions and references are made to events within the games/anime. And I do change things about the after-game things that happen (such as a tweak with the return of the bracelet and the heading off to Hidden Darkside Holy Ground to reclaim Mia...). So, no flaming!

About reviews: I would LOVE to have at least one person who reviews every chapter and gives me feedback other than "It was wonderful" or "It sucked." Suggestions, comments, and critiques are wanted and welcome.

Umm... I thought I mentioned this in the first bit of posting, but apparently I didn't... This fanfic, while I try to at least stick with the personalities and quirks of the characters as well as the parameters of the World, some things are of an A.U. For example, the physical aspects of a character in real life, as well as their names are what I decide them to be, and that is not strictly canon. I know that the canon Tsukasa and Mimiru don't look the way I described them IRL, but the way they are portrayed is how I first imagined them. I've never actually seen all the episodes of Sign and, though I know the plot quite well, I don't really know what everything looked like, such as the brief visions of the characters IRL. Furthermore, umm... there is no furthermore. Oh wait, I lied. Furthermore, with other things that supposedly were supposed to happen after the games and after the anime, I've rearranged or gotten rid of, or altered to fit this plot. Eh.. k??

Chapter 3 _Tsukasa – the World?_

_I don't want to be trapped in a game again. I don't want to feel the pain, even if I could feel things like the warmth of a Grunty. At least, that is what I told my friends, who have tried to convince me that such an incident won't happen a second time. They say that the World has been fixed, but they don't truly understand how the incident still haunts me. They don't have the dreams..._

_-Tsukasa_

A young wavemaster character stood alone in the middle of a grassy sward. The sex of this person was rather ambiguous, but suggested masculinity. The greenish brown and tan robe of the wavemaster was loose and the body design had no features to definitely point one way or the other, but the overall effect was that the wavemaster was a guy. He also wore a floppy hat with green jewels upon either side above the ears. Locks of silvery hair stuck out of the bottom in a rather messy, jagged fashion. The jewels upon the hat really were the only decoration upon the whole of the outfit. Even the brownish green fingerless gloves were plain. The staff, too, had little adornment. It was shaped rather like a shepherd's crook, but with a flawless red orb floating in the center of the curve. However, the most striking feature of the boy was his eyes, two gray tinted lilac pools, filled with inexplicable resignation and sadness. His face, too, reflected a strange grief.

A breeze undulated east through the field, stirring the grasses with a sound akin to that of a gentle rain or the ocean breaking upon the shore heard from a distance. The fingers of the wind pulled at the wavemaster's clothing, rippling it out behind him and bringing the scent of the golden flowers, breaking the green monotony in the distance. He closed his eyes, inhaling the fragrance and reveling in it, a rare smile gracing his lips for a brief moment. Then the wavemaster opened his eyes once more.

Suddenly, it seemed as if time had sped up, for the sun swiftly began to sink. The sky turned first a rosy color, then shades of orange appeared, followed by the deep crimson of blood. The green of the grasses was now rusty in hue and the flowers were soaked in scarlet. Then time stopped.

The wavemaster seemed not at all surprised when a large, golden barbell creature materialized in the air above him. The thing was translucent and had a gelatinous quality that was reminiscent of Jell-O. It descended down to a level equal with the wavemaster's head and seemed to be watching the sunset as well.

The wavemaster looked up at it and murmured, "Guardian."

The barbell replied with what sounded like the cry of a whale deep under the oceans. It was an eerie noise, but the boy only smiled up at it. However, when he looked back to the sunset, what little color was there left his face and the smile faded. No longer was the red orb hanging low in the sky merely a setting sun, but it had transformed into an eye. A gale came rushing towards the wavemaster, tearing up the grasses and the flowers as it moved. There was no time to run. Holding his arms in front of his face, he tried to ward off the worst of the wind, but was knocked backwards several feet. He landed with a thud and a low moan, then got to his feet. However, he was no longer on the field. Instead, he was in a room made of stone. Turning around, he saw an old man floating upside down instead of the barbell creature. Standing next to the man was a female axe-woman, her teal hair in a perfect bob, her clothing perfectly positioned and her wings flared just enough to catch the light. The woman turned towards the wavemaster and smiled.

"Tsukasa!" she exclaimed, her voice soft and warm. "You've come back."

The wavemaster nodded and took a step forward. As he did so, however, the floor began to shake, knocking both he and the axe-woman off balance. Static fizzed and the barbell creature appeared. Immediately, the old man disappeared, replaced by a pink cat character wearing an odd pointed hat, decorated with a buckle, buckle adorned shoes and loose clothing. A tendril sped out of the golden thing, heading for the woman, who cried out in fear.

"Subaru!" cried Tsukasa, lunging in front of her just in time to intercept the offshoot.

It impaled him through the chest, freezing the wavemaster in place. Utter agony ripped through his thin frame, forcing a heart-wrenching scream from his throat. It felt as if his very being was being torn, shredded into a thousand pieces and each of those pieces was shattered into a thousand more. And unlike other wounds, other physical pains, this one did not abate with time. It only grew stronger until at last the anguish drove him mad. And only then did the darkness come...

_Tsukasa – real life_

Amaya sat bolt upright, eyes wide, and heart throbbing with terror. Her breathing came in harsh gasps. A shudder coursed down her spine.

"No..." she moaned, closing her eyes. But that did not help, images from the twisted dream played before her eyes, projected onto her closed eyelids. Opening them again, she repeated to herself, "It was only a dream... Only a dream, Amaya..."

Slowly, her heart rate returned to normal and her breathing slowed. Amaya's hands unclenched themselves from her bed sheet. Taking a few deep breaths, the girl stood up, eyes trailing to that box containing her equipment for the World.

'_The only way to conquer your fears is to face them...'_

Mimiru's words came back to her.

"Maybe... Maybe I ought to... Yes! I will face my fears..." she murmured to herself.

Amaya glanced at the clock. She had only been asleep for an hour, or thereabouts, and her father wouldn't be home for another equal period of time, if he came home at all tonight. Furthermore, Amaya wasn't really in the mood to work on calculus homework. Therefore, the girl walked over to her desk and switched on the computer. While it initiated its programs and OS, Amaya picked up the box and opened it. First, she took out the software, then she removed the headset and controller. Slowly, she inserted the disk, put on the headset and started the program. She had to wait several minutes as it ran a few updates, but then she was ready. Bypassing the message boards, Amaya clicked on the option to log in.

Username: Tsukasa, Password: rubberbandofdoom. The computer spent another moment loading, then a myriad of colors spread across Amaya's vision as her character was loaded into the delta server.

_Tsukasa – the World_

The same wavemaster who had appeared in the dream now materialized amid three golden rings. For long moments the character stood there, gazing about the root town, watching other players. Then, Tsukasa's grip upon her staff tightened and she stepped forward, walking slowly away from the chaos gate.

'_If this isn't like last time, then how can I feel these hard stones beneath my feet? How can I feel the gentle tug of the breeze at my tunic? Why?! Why am I feeling these things? How and why do I smell the fragrance of a bouquet of flowers, offered from one player to another?'_

These questions raced through the mind of Amaya, no, the mind of Tsukasa. Two different people they were, but the same; two sides to the same mask. Nevertheless, both felt acute anxiety. Why should this happen?

Swiftly, Tsukasa returned to the chaos gate and attempted to log out. A slight delay caused panic to run screaming through her head. Amaya let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding when the spectrum of brilliance filled her vision again. The girl removed her headset, gazing thoughtfully at the computer. Several moments later, Tsukasa was in Mac Anu, once more.

'_Maybe it isn't so bad, smelling and feeling. So long as I'm not in a coma, that is. Now where was it that Hidezki said he had to go? No, he never said, did he? Oh well, might as well explore the servers I never did visit...'_

Tsukasa turned around to face the chaos gate. For a long moment, she looked into the rotating gold-rimmed blue portal, then the wavemaster entered the command to change servers. Then, in the twinkling of three shining rings, Tsukasa vanished from Mac Anu, traveling instantly through the digital ethers to emerge at the chaos gate in the omega server root town, Lia Fail. Only it wasn't the lovely garden filled city that was expected. No, the original Omega server was still being resurrected and repaired by CC Corporation administrators. Therefore, Helba's net slum version remained in place.

Tsukasa gazed about in bemused wonder, eyeing the chunky, cut and paste appearance of the architecture, nay, the entire root town. It had the look of being made out of scrap metal and old junkyard parts, combined with a pack of teenage punks with entirely too much spray paint on their hands. The wavemaster wasn't sure whether to laugh or disapprove. However, all the amenities of a standard root town were there, so it wasn't as if one had too high a right to complain.

Tsukasa was about to walk over to the Grunty farm and, indeed, she had already begun to stride when the slight air disturbance accompanying teleportation brushed across her. Unnerved, but unwilling to show as much, the wavemaster turned around and was surprised to see a blade master who had the appearance of a purple cat. Wide-eyed, Tsukasa was tempted to flee, fearing for a moment that this was Maha, come to lure her into Morganna's webs once more. However, after a moment's observation, Tsukasa relaxed, sure that this one could not possibly be Maha, however similar this other felt and looked. It was now that Tsukasa turned her attention to the other members of the party. One was a wavemaster whose character design was remarkably similar to Tsukasa's own, though the main colors were blue and red jewels adorned this other's hat.

"Hidezki?" Tsukasa exclaimed, forgetting, for the moment, about the third player to have just arrived.

"Huh?" The other wavemaster turned to look at Tsukasa. "Who are – oh! Are you Amaya?"

Tsukasa nodded. "That is I. Hmm..." Turning her eyes to the cat player, Tsukasa actually bothered to look at the status information that popped up. "Are you the Mia to whom Hide – I mean Elk was referring?"

Elk beamed, but Mia regarded Tsukasa curiously, her unblinking cat gaze sweeping the wavemaster. "I know you," murmured the blade master, cocking her head to one side. "Tsukasa..."

"Yea," chirped Elk, obviously in a much better mood than he had been earlier. "But I thought you didn't play the World anymore..."

"I decided to give it another try," murmured Tsukasa, her tone firmly putting an end to further inquirers. At last, she turned to a teal haired twin blade, who looked as if he was about to fall over in exhaustion. The wavemaster observed the red-clothed boy for a long moment, detecting some strange, yet eerily familiar shadow clinging about him. Tsukasa's piercing eyes were drawn, suddenly, to an octagonal bracelet adorning the twin blade's right wrist. Light colored polygons, glowing with a soft, pulsating light made up the bangle, but it seemed there was no exact material.

"Who are you?" asked Tsukasa, confusion evident in her voice. "Why do you have that bracelet? What _is_ that bracelet?"

The twin blade's eyes widened and he stared at Tsukasa, his own share of confusion filling his expression. Mia regarded the wavemaster with another keen glance, as if straining to recall that hidden memory. Elk's eyes, too, enlarged as his gaze traveled from Mia, to Kite, to Tsukasa and back again.

"I'm Kite... Y- you can see it?" questioned the twin blade, doubt and amazement tingeing his voice.

Tsukasa nodded, puzzlement in her eyes. "Of course. Why is everyone staring at me? Can't you see it? It isn't exactly inconspicuous... I mean it's kind of glowing and there's a vague darkness clinging to it just as much as there is light. You really can't see it?"

Kite shook his head. "Mia's the only one who can, but that's because... never mind," he explained. "But you are a player, right? You log in, play, log out? You aren't a hacker, are you?"

The bewilderment upon Tsukasa's face continued to grow. "I'm a player, yes... And I'm not a hacker," he said.

The wavemaster considered saying more about the things that separated her from normal players, but she decided against it, at least until she knew a little more about this twin blade. While there was something distinctly trustworthy about the twin blade, there was something separate, but connected, something dark that Tsukasa didn't like. Nothing about Kite's personality, but something intangible.

Tsukasa cried out, suddenly, as there was a slight throb in the air. The shadows cleaving to Kite's bracelet flared and the twin blade, too, cried out, torn between clutching his head or his wrist. Both hurt quite a lot. The feeling on his wrist wasn't so much pain, as it was an icy chill piercing to the bone. The feeling in his head, however, was close to agony. Something was trying to force its will to supplant Kite's. The twin blade pushed back against this entity, trying to drive it from his mind. He fell to his knees, moaning softly and muttering such things as, "No, leave me alone!"

Meanwhile, Mia stared in horrid fascination at both Tsukasa and Kite while Elk half panicked, unsure what to do. Tsukasa closed his eyes, feeling the struggle between Kite and the thing pushing against him. The wavemaster opened her eyes again, then stepped over to Kite and reached over to touch his bracelet with her staff. Tsukasa didn't know what she was doing, much less why she was doing it, but it seemed to be what she was meant to. The moment the stave contacted the bracelet, there was a crackling of data and a few of the polygons flared outward, visible, now, even to normal players. Tsukasa and Kite each cried out and Tsukasa was forced to step back a few paces. Then, Kite collapsed.

"What did you do?" asked Elk, worried.

"I... I don't know..." answered the other wavemaster.

"Wh- Oh no! Mom's home," said Elk. "Um... Uh... Bye... Email me about Kite!" Blushing, even through the avatar, he hugged Mia tightly, then disappeared amid three golden rings. Mia, too, seemed to blush through her fur as she returned the hug. "Bye, Elk..."

Tsukasa nodded to the boy, then stepped over to Kite, crouching down next to him. Mia followed, standing over the two and glaring at the players who had stopped to gawk.

"What happened to you, Kite?" murmured Tsukasa to herself.

AN:

Ooo! The chapter itself (w/out the AN, the disclaimer and all that jazz, is nearly six pages. Weeeeeeeeee!

Note: Though in the dream I refer to Tsukasa as a 'he' and though the character model is a 'he,' I am trying to save myself some heac-ache by simply referring to Tsukasa as 'she' from after the dream onward.  
Note 2: Yes, you are supposed to be somewhat confuzzled about Kite... All will be made at least partially clear in the next chapter

About yon Tsukasa's being in touch with the World - Umm... That will be explained in later chapters..

-pokeths her reviewers-

THANKS ALL OF YOU FOR REVIEWING MY FANFIC, AGAIN!!! It makes me so happy when people review each chapter! - hands out random grunty plushies to Sesuna, dreamcaster55 and Shar-dono -

Sesuna: Thanks! Why am I so mean? -shrugs- No clue... Maybe because I am taking out my own angst upon defensless characters? Because I'm a sadist at heart? Nah...

Dreamcaster55: Thanks for reviewing.. yet again! Actually, I lied.. without meaning to... Kite's problems will feature in the /next/ chapter... Umm... Amaya's father was going to show up in this chapter, but then I changed my mind... He'll eventually figure in and I haven't quite decided whether to have him be abusive or neglegent... Yea, we'll see those who beat up Hidezki later, me thinks... -pokeths note at top of chapter- I'm not following strict canon here... And I didn't feel like looking up all the details of the characters IRL. Because I have copies of the games and play them frequently, I remember more little details about the canon characters there, but it's a bit different with the anime. And you don't sound rude.

Shar-dono : Really? I didn't know that trivia about Tsukasa being sent to boarding school... hmm... where'd you find this out? Please, do tell! I figured about the neglegent part, but he also could have been somewhat abusive. I dunno... I think I'll have him pop in as one who is almost never home, but when he is, he shows animosity towards Amaya... for reasons yet to be explained. I can't go spoiling it now, can I? Anyway, -pokes note at the top of chapter- This isn't going to be perfect canon.


	5. Dreams, Sickness, and Confusion

Fragments of a Shattered Mirror

Disclaimer: I do not own any more of the .hack conglomeration than copies of the games, manga and anime. This plot happens to be mine, but allusions and references are made to events within the games/anime. And I do change things about the after-game things that happen (such as a tweak with the return of the bracelet and the heading off to Hidden Darkside Holy Ground to reclaim Mia...). So, no flaming!

About reviews: I would LOVE to have at least one person who reviews every chapter and gives me feedback other than "It was wonderful" or "It sucked." Suggestions, comments, and critiques are wanted and welcome.

Chapter 4

_Kite – The World (what did happen to Kite.. oh and this begins the day before the preceding two chapters)_

_The bracelet... Why did I wind up receiving it? The powers... The fear... The mistrust... The decisions... Most of all the responsibilities. Why did I wind up with all of these? All I wanted to do was play the World and have fun, but then Yasuhiko... And I had to help him. I found out about others, about the problems and felt an obligation to help bring an end to the mayhem... because of the bracelet. Because of it, I was the only one who could defeat the invincible monster. I was the only one who could destroy each of the eight phases. I was the only one who could open areas sealed off by the system. All because of it. But what about _me_? Everyone looked up to me because I could keep a level head and make reasonable decisions... and I had the bracelet. But... What if I never received the bracelet? What if someone else had been given this weighty object? Would the World still have been saved? Would the coma victims be awake now? Would those who have become my friends still be my companions? Would they still follow my lead?_

_I'll never know... But what if...?_

"You! It was you who brought about my downfall! You who contrived to have me killed that the worthless Aura might be born. You who attacked me, though without me you would have no means with which to attack or with which to escape your lonely reality. Fool! You will pay! You will not die, but you will watch others die by your own hand. You will watch those you thought your friends curse you even as you feel their pain and their suffering coupled with your own. Yet you will be able to do nothing. In time, you will be mine, my puppet. Yes, you will pay."

The bitter words hissed through Kite's skull, sending shivers through his very soul. But he clung to the words for they were the only things there inside the void of darkness where he lay. The boy couldn't move, couldn't struggle or make a sound. Even if he should have been able to open his eyes, nothing could have been seen save darkness. Without the voice, there would have been no sound. Without the burning of the words through Kite's ears, there would have been no sensation save a bitter, unrelenting chill. Without the voice, there would have been nothing.

"But did you think that was all? No... That is but the easiest of it. I will consume you from the inside. I am now a part of you, a part of your mind, fool. And I draw my strength from you. The more you struggle, the stronger I become and the weaker you shall grow. Go ahead and contend me, then, but know that I will laugh at your futility. You will not even escape me in what you term 'the real world.' You take your mind with you everywhere. Not a thought will you think that I will not know of and, in time, not a move will you make without my direction, for I will devour your mind. Oh, you will still be able to observe, to see and hear all that you do and you will know full well what you do, but it shall be I who controls you. And you can do nothing! Not now, not ever!"

The words burned with a painful intensity now, searing into Kite's memory. Somehow, he was now able to speak, but all that came out was a low moan of dread. However, despair had not overtaking the intrepid hero yet. Mustering his energy and resistance, he strove to move, to break free of the prison where he lay.

"Let me go, Morganna!" he shouted into the darkness. However, Kite's voice seemed barely a whisper in the dark. "You will never control me."

The voice cackled and it was terrible to hear. The laughter was like ice that had been coated in grimy oil and set on fire. It crackled and hissed, but was slick and sickly.

"But I already am, my puppet," came the reply as the laughter faded.

Kite shuddered, the dread weighing more heavily upon him. Still, he struggled against the will forcing itself upon him. Slowly, after a thousand years, it seemed, Kite was able to struggle to his feet, opening his eyes and squinting through the darkness. He took a step, then another and collapsed, the pressure too much to bear.

"Aura," he whispered.

"She cannot hear you," said the voice. "Even if she could, Aura wouldn't come, not when you are tainted by me. Already those whom you would deem friends fly from you."

"No! Aura!"

The voice laughed and kept on laughing as Kite staggered to his feet and began to stumble forward once again. He managed a few more steps then fell. This time, he could not get up. The boy's quaking muscles wouldn't support his weight. The voice only snickered, then fell silent. Only the echoes reverberated in Kite's ears, but those, too, faded into silence. But the utter stillness was worse.

"Aura," murmured Kite a third and final time before his mind slipped into unconsciousness. It seemed to him, before sleep descended completely, that there was a response, a warm presence.

A pale hand rested upon his shoulder and a voice whispered into his ear, "You mustn't let yourself fall to the darkness! Kite, please..."

- - - - - - - - -

Kite moaned softly as he awoke. The boy didn't bother to open his eyes, for the throbbing in his head was painful enough without the sudden intrusion of light. After several moments, however, the headache receded sufficiently that the he was able to open his eyes a fraction. Finding nothing brighter or more disturbing than the vision of the menu to log in or check the message boards visible through the nuero goggles still upon his head, Kite sat up, slowly. He found that he had fallen asleep at his computer, it seemed, while playing or logging into the World.

Kite removed the goggles and blinked, looking around at his room. The controller lay upon the desk right next to where his hand had been and the screen showed the same thing as the nuero goggles. The boy glanced at the clock. It was nearly midnight. A long nap then, he supposed.

Besides the still sore head, Kite's right wrist ached as well. Furthermore, despite the nap, he felt more tired than he had after his soccer coach had made the team run - not jog, but run - five kilometers, then do at least half a dozen full field line drills (also known as suicides - see note at bottom) and finish off with calisthenics. The reasons for this strange weariness and for the aching wrist escaped Kite and the more he thought about them, the more puzzled he became. Adding to this enigma, the boy couldn't seem to even remember what he had been doing before he fell asleep. Playing the World was the most likely answer, but Kite just couldn't recall.

Shrugging off the vague feeling of paranoia, Kite turned off his computer and stumbled to bed, collapsing upon the sheets without even bothering to get under them. Barely a few minutes had passed before he was asleep. That night, strange, horrible dreams clouded his sanity, but only left shadows the next morning; Shadows under the eyes and shadows in his mind.

- - - - - -

"Hey Kite! You O.K?" questioned Yasuhiko of his friend at lunch the next day.

Kite utter a reply, but it was made incoherent by the fact that his head was face down in his arms on the table.

"What?"

"I said, 'I'm just tired,'" repeated Kite, raising his voice.

"Hmm... If you say so," replied Yasuhiko with a shrug. "But that isn't like you. Are you sure you aren't sick?"

"No," muttered Kite. "Well, maybe I am. I don't know..." He didn't really want to tell even his best friend about waking up in the middle of the night with no memory of what he'd been doing or about the dark dreams.

"If you really don't feel well, go see the nurse," suggested Yasuhiko. "From what I saw, you just about fell asleep in history. That's my job. You're the one who takes down notes. You and that Amaya girl. I swear history's the only subject where she isn't taking advanced, advanced, advanced classes. But never mind about her, Kite, go see the nurse. If you get me sick..."

Kite lifted his head to gaze at his friend. He had dark circles beneath his eyes and his face looked chalk white. "Maybe you're right," he sighed. "But I don't want to miss school. I have a test tomorrow in math and I would like to know what will be on it."

"Then call someone tonight. Would you like me to march you down to the nurse myself?"

"Fine!" exclaimed Kite, getting up from his seat and stumbling out of the cafeteria.

Making his way through the school hallways, Kite wound up at the nurse's office after but a few minutes. She was inside, seated at her desk and typing something. No one else was there, no one in the plastic chairs, no one on the bed, no one in the little room to the side. Therefore, Kite entered and gave a swift bow.

"I don't feel very well," he murmured.

The nurse gazed at him a moment before rising and commanding Kite to take a seat in one of the plastic chairs before her desk. "You don't look too well, either," she replied, stepping around her desk. "Hmm. (She placed a hand upon Kite's forehead) I think you have a fever. Let me take your temperature."

An electronic thermometer was produced from a cupboard and Kite was forced to hold it under his tongue for thirty seconds.

"Ah! Your temperature is 102 degrees!" exclaimed the nurse. "You should be home resting. Tsk. Shall I call your mother, or would you rather do so?"

- - - - - -

Some thirty minutes later, Kite lay at home in bed, his mother hovering over him with worry. She had given him medicine to keep down the fever and an ice pack. Then, the mother had wrapped her son in blankets.

"Kite," she questioned as she finally began to head towards the door. "Why didn't you say you weren't feeling well this morning?"

"I didn't want to miss school," replied Kite, his voice groggy.

"But honey, if you're sick, you ought not to strain yourself. Ah well, sleep well, son. I will come in and check on you ever hour or so, O.K?"

Kite nodded his ascent and watched his mother depart, closing the door softly behind her. Then, the boy closed his eyes and drifted off into the slumber he had been longing for, yet dreading the entire day. However, he didn't dream and his sleep was restful.

- - - - - - -

It was perhaps an hour after school would normally have ended when Kite awoke once more. To his surprise, he felt much better. Though still tired, his head no longer throbbed and he had forgotten about the ache in his wrist. Therefore, the boy set aside his ice pack and sat up. Yawning and pushing aside the covers, Kite rolled out of bed. He stumbled over to his computer and turned it on, wondering if a friend had emailed him the homework.

Checking his inbox, Kite found that it was not so. However, an email from Aura caught his attention. It read:

"_This is my birthplace._

_This is where my mother was born. And now, another life is about to be born._

_But at the same time, there is something that wishes to prevent its birth._

_Only you..._

_Only you will be able to stop the same mistake._

_(omega) Hidden Darkside Holy Ground."_

'Wasn't there an email from her earlier?'

Kite scanned through his list of recent emails, but couldn't fin the email he thought he had received. He checked the 'to be deleted' email section, (it only deleted emails twenty-four hours after being sent there), but the mail he sought was not there.

'Was that email just a part of the dreams? But, no... It couldn't have been...'

The boy contemplated logging in and checking it out, but he heard the sound of his mother's footsteps upon the stairs. Therefore, he closed the email and opened a blank one, entering Yasuhiko's address and beginning to type a request for the day's homework. The door to his room opened and the woman stepped in.

"Oh, Kite, you're awake!" she said. "Are you sending an email to a friend for your assignments?"

Kite nodded.

"You still look tired and unwell, honey," said the mother, coming over and feeling her son's forehead. "And you still feel hot. Once you've sent the email, go back to bed, ok? Are you hungry?"

"Not really," replied the adolescent in all truth.

"All right. I your father called while you were asleep and he hopes you'll get better soon. I'm not supposed to tell you in case this doesn't turn out, but he thinks he might be able to get home from the trade-show in America on Sunday or Monday instead of Tuesday. I know how much you miss him when he's gone. I do, too."

Kite smiled and his mother hugged him, ruffling his hair. "Drink plenty of fluids and make sure you rest some more, OK? I already told the school you wouldn't be there tomorrow, so you needn't worry about homework. Let me know if you need anything."

Kite nodded again and his mother smiled, then left, closing the door carefully behind her. Then, he sent his email and started up The World. While it was loading, he contemplated the message he had received. Just before he selected the 'Log In' option, an icon indicating that there was something he hadn't read on the boards caught his eye. Therefore, Kite selected it and began to scan the board threads for any new topics. He found three, one of little importance being a short post about the reinstitution of the item list completion contest. The other two, however, attracted Kite's attention.

Thread: A strange, terrifying thing I saw (dated the day before)

Message: What is it?

By: Ant Man

Earlier today, I logged in for the first time and went to a low-level field for beginners. Delta, bursting passed over aqua field. I encountered portals on the field and on the first floor of the dungeon. Then, on the bottom floor, I entered a room that was a crossroads and that's when I saw it... and heard it, too

There was a guy, a twin blade I think, wearing red clothing, including a hat. He was talking to this weird, ghostly girl. She had a black dress and black hair and gray skin. The guy stepped forward and there was this flash of light, then he yelled as if in agony and doubled over. Then the guy collapsed, but he didn't turn gray like you are supposed to when your avatar dies. The girl's eyes were suddenly bright red and she looked at me, grinning holding me with her eyes! God, I've never been more scared in my life! Her eyes burned with fire and hate!

Then she held her hand over the guy and looked down. This weird black stuff fell from her hand into the guy and she slowly faded like sand running through an hourglass or something. It was really freaky! And then I noticed that the background music was gone and I heard a cackle that froze my blood. I almost peed my pants. The background music didn't return, but I went over to the guy to see what had happened, but before I'd gotten within five feet of him, something around his wrist flashed and a orb half made of hexagons or something and half made of random beams of light surrounded him and contracted. Then he was gone and the music returned.

System admid? Anyone? Is this normal? Is stuff like this supposed to happen? I'm scared... I thought the stuff a few months ago was just hype, but now I'm not so sure. What happened?! I want to keep playing, but I don't want to be in danger...

_' Was that 'guy' me? I... I don't remember... I don't remember that, but...'_

Message: What the hell?

By: Bell

No way is stuff like that supposed to happen! Freaky... Have you gone back to that dungeon and seen if anything like that happened again? Maybe it was just a dream. Or maybe you're making this all up!

Message: woah!

By: Nuke Ukasumi

Wow! I wish I could have seen something like that! It sounds just like a movie. Hey, maybe someone else in the dungeon was board and uploaded a horror mod? It's pretty close to Halloween, y'know.

_'Figures that's what Nuke would say... Does he have any grounding in reality?'_

Message: uh...

By: Ant Man

I went back to the dungeon with some friends, but nothing was out of the ordinary and they laughed at me... But I tell you that what I saw was real!!! I'm not making this up!!!

And Halloween was in October... It's February... And I don't think it was a mod... aren't those illegal?

_'Hmm... This happened yesterday...' _

Message: Re: uh...

By: Blackrose

Yea, mods are illegal, but it could have been a hacker. Still, are you sure that the player was a twin blade? Can you describe him and the girl in more detail?

Also, the things that happened a few months ago are done! The World is safe now. But what you saw is definitely NOT normal...

_'Blackrose...' _

Message: Descriptions

By: Ant Man

The guy had teal hair and wore a red vest over a whitish shirt along with the red hat and the pants. I think he was wearing gloves and boots and he had a pack on his back, but I didn't get a really good look at him.

The girl didn't seem to have legs, she just kind of floated. Her dress was black and her hair was even blacker. Her skin was kind of pencil lead colored. Her eyes were bright red!

_'Was that really me?! What happened... Why can't I remember?!'_

The other message sequence ran thus:

Thread: Glitches

Message: Data flashes

By: Cossak Leader

I was wandering around in a field that had recently been restored from that weird data-patched way it was. There weren't any trails of data floating in the air and the sky was in tact. Good job, Admid!

But I think you missed a few little bits because I saw one or two little flashes of static and data. They disappeared as soon as I looked closer, but they were still there.

The field was Omega, Splendid Emerald Nobleman.

Message: others

By: Heavy

Other data patches appear sometimes in other fixed fields, too.

_'Is there a connection? Or is this just some bizarre coincidence? What's happening?!'  
_

* * *

AN  
  
Suicides / line drills are when you run a short distance to a line then back. Then you run to a line further away, then back. Then you run to a line even further away then back. One suicide is the entire set of running to and from the lines. hehe... You can guess at why they are called that.  
  
In this chapter we found out a bit of what has happened to Kite. Muahaha... Confusion reigns supreme for the adolescant. If you have any guess about what will happen to him in the future, go ahead and post them if you must... But I would prefer it if you would email them to me instead. That way you won't spoil it for other people. My email is dragon 17 starband . net ... Just ignore the spaces  
  
Reviewers:  
  
So I lied... I thought it would take me longer with the next chapter, but this section wound up being so long that I decided to split Kite's escapades into two chapters. The next one will be the one that takes me a while 'cause I haven't had an opportunity to finish the board where you rescue Mia. Stupid #$& slow leveling up... -sigh- I'm even leveling up on a lvl 98 field, but I'm still only lvl. 94. gah... Some day I'll manage to get Kite high enough that he doesn't die after a bunch of dungeon levels of data draining and so that I don't have to spend an hour hacking away at an invincable monster before my infection rating is low enough to data drain with little risk. Yea, I do know about the lvl 99 Bracelet that appears when you data drain The Guardian, but The Guardian doesn't appear as frequently as I would like it to. -sigh- Anyway, enough ranting!  
  
Sesuna:  
since your email is down and since you only reviewed the latest chapter a yesterday or today, I'll just respond to your review here. I responded to the others over email. swee!  
Anyway, I'm mean to most of my character. With the exception of Reki. Because I can find no way to be mean to the manga version of him. I don't like the version of him in the anime of Legend of teh Twilight Bracelet. They (being the producers) turned him into a backstabber! -cries- Back to topic: Thanks for reviewing. Yes, yes I am very mean to Kite. If I wanted to be mean to you and my readers I could spill the beans on what dreadful things lay in store for our hero. muahaha... -ish hugged-

_Umm.._ Anyway, please R & R! For name referances, see previous chapters...


	6. Rescueing a friend, Siblings

Chapter 5

( Disclaimer applies as do the notes for previous chapters.)

(The theme song for this fanfic is The Sound of Silence by Simon and Garfunkle... If you've heard it, great! If not, go and listen to it!)

_If I only exist in the World... Do I still have a soul?_

_The World_

The standard three golden rings cascaded downwards, illuminating briefly Kite as he warped into Lia Fail. He gazed at the angular buildings and haphazard textures of the Net Slum version of the omega root town. It really was a shame that the admins had not yet finished the reconstruction of the original server because it was supposed to be quite lovely, a real work of art for the programmers. However, the players would have to make do with Helba's awkwardly constructed version.

Kite was just starting off for the Recorder to save his game when another materialized behind him.

"Kite!" called this other. When the twin blade turned around, he found him to be Elk.

"Hello Elk," he said, his voice tinged with weariness.

"A-are you going to Hidden Darkside Holy Ground? D-did y-you get an email from Aura?" the wavemaster questioned.

Kite nodded. "Yea. I was going to go save and stock up on Health Elixirs before going, though."

"Can I come with you?"

"Sure. D'you think we should take anyone else?"

"Umm... It might be dangerous... But..."

"It's OK," said Kite. "We can always leave and come back or ask someone to meet us there if it gets too rough."

- - - - - - - -

A few minutes later, the pair was ready. Elk had joined Kite's party and each had equipped themselves with their best armor and weapons, bringing along a few extra items in case they needed another element. Then, they activated the chaos gate and warped away.

A moment or two passed before Kite and Elk materialized in a dark field, still littered with patches of raw data. A few white strands of numbers and letters floated here and there, appearing and disappearing every few seconds. Glancing at the map in the corner of his vision, Kite noted that the dungeon wasn't immediately visible.

"I'll call a grunty so we don't have to worry about any monsters yet," he said.

"OK."

Therefore, Kite brought out a small flute and played a short scale. The particular scale he played called a Noble Grunty and the suit-clad creature came galloping out of no where with a cry of "Mon Ami!" The twin blade clambered on and helped Elk to follow. Then, Kite kicked the grunty's sides and they started forward, the creature trotting merrily along towards the dungeon as directed by his master.

A few minutes later, they entered between wiggling giant's fingers, descending into the labyrinth. The pair walked forward, heading for the first door, but Elk cried out suddenly as a figure appeared floating in the air above the entryway. The figure looked like a pink cat with red eyes. It wore a strange, pointed hat with a buckle on it and buckles also adorned its shoes. Its brown and tan clothing was loose, but not to baggy extremes. Somehow, the boys knew it was female.

"A cat..." breathed Elk.

The cat's tail flicked once and she looked at them. Then she bowed and floated backwards, fading into the wall.

"No! Don't go!" The wavemaster then turned to Kite.

"It was Mia!" cried Elk. "Did you see that? That was Mia!"

Kite nodded. "Let's go after her, then."

Therefore, the two hurried forward. However, in the next room there was only a magic portal. They ran forward and it flashed, fading as it released the monster contained therein. It was a large creature that looked as if it was mostly comprised of blue ribbons, spinning about like a top. Sickly green patches dotted its surface, glowing. The status of the monster only displayed garbled numbers and text.

"A- a data bug," said Elk, his voice barely above a whisper.

Kite merely nodded and leapt forward to attack. That seemed to snap Elk out of his stupor for the wavemaster immediately began to cast strengthening spells upon his comrade. Kite dodged the monster's slow strikes, but couldn't avoid getting hit by spells. Therefore, Elk also concentrated upon healing the twin blade. After a few minutes of steady attack, A blue shield appeared around the monster and exploded with a shattering sound.

Kite jumped away and held up his right arm, supporting it with his left. Then he cried, "Data Drain!"

The bracelet around his wrist glowed blue and expanded, multi-colored rays of light shooting off of it and piercing the opposing monster. The screen glitched into backwards colors for a moment, a few stray bits of light flying back to Kite even as the bracelet faded from view. Then, the images were restored and the chartreuse patches had disappeared from the creature. Kite winced and moaned softly as there was a sudden pain in his wrist, but it faded, so he paid it little heed. He did, however, notice that he received no item, neither weapon nor virus core.

Working in tandem, the wavemaster and twin blade quickly dispatched the Astro King and Kite opened the treasure chest that appeared. It contained a single Hanged Man scroll.

"I have a ton, do you want it?" he asked Elk.

"It's OK. Keep it," replied the wavemaster. "I have an item with that spell on it, so I don't really need the scroll. Come on! Let's go get Mia!"

The twin blade nodded and ran through the right-hand door, matched step for step by the anxious Elk. There was no portal in this next room or the room after that, but in the third room in that direction, a trio of Dark Maidens lay in wait. Elk struck two with Pha Rai Rom and Kite killed the third with a Me Rai Don.

Then the pair moved to the next chamber in which another of the corrupted Astro Kings appeared. They defeated it in much the same manner as before. This time, however, when Kite had data drained the monster, the icy pain like needles drove into his wrist and did not abate quickly. A chill filled the twin blade and he shivered, unable to move for a moment. In that key moment, however, the Astro King turned its attentions to Elk and killed the poor wavemaster. Returning a moment later as a ghost, Elk cried out to Kite.

"Kite? What's the matter? I... I don't like being dead. Please revive me?"

The words seemed to snap the twin blade out of whatever strange trance he was in just in time for him to dodge a swipe of the monster's blade-tipped pendulum appendages. He ran a safe distance from the Astro King and used a Resurrect upon his friend. Then, a moment or two later, Kite proceeded to give to Elk a Mage's Soul as well.

"Merrows Pha!" cried Elk, channeling the energy and directing it towards the monster with his staff. A strange little creature with what looked like ice crystals for limbs appeared over the wavemaster's head and looked at the monster, even as a large, elaborate, blue circular design flashed upon the floor beneath it. Ice appeared out of nowhere, slamming into the Astro King and encasing it. Then the solidified water shattered, the summoned creature disappearing and major damage appearing in red numbers above the monster's head. Unfortunately, the spell had not killed it, but Kite was able to finish the job with a few well-placed hits.

"I'm sorry, Elk," said Kite. "I just... phased out, I guess. I don't know what's happening to me..."

Elk shook his head and replied, "It's OK. You shouldn't beat yourself up about it. After we find Mia, you ought to log out and rest, though. Even through your avatar, you look tired."

"I am tired, and I think I still have a fever."

"Then what are you doing online?"

"The email from Aura. I couldn't ignore it. Did you see the message boards, by the way?"

"No. I read the email at a friend's house and then hurried home and logged in. Mom won't be back for a while." The last sentence Elk said with a sad, resigned air. "But, let's find Mia!"

They continued down to the fourth level, fighting similar enemies, corrupted and normal. However, at the sixth level, they saw the pink cat once more, floating just in front of and above the doorway.

"Are you Mia?" asked Elk.

The cat's lips moved, but no words came out. However, Kite heard them spoken in his mind. He felt something else stir in his mind, too, the same thing that had tried to press through before. But this was only a stirring, a shifting and it effected the twin blade little.

"Macha," he murmured, speaking the cat's name aloud.

Then the feline vanished and the pair hurried after. An eternity of fighting monsters passed and Elk grew more concerned for Kite. The twin blade would phase out for a moment or two, usually with a moan as if some pain assaulted him. His eyes would cloud over and Elk thought he saw a dark glimmer about Kite's wrist. Then at a word or cry from the wavemaster, Kite would snap back, though he retained a dazed look for several moments. As they progressed in the downward spiral, these moments became longer and more frequent and it became more difficult for Elk to bring his friend back. Finally, after a particularly difficult battle with a data bug monster and one of these phases that nearly cost the pair their digital lives, Elk told Kite to stop.

"Look, you're sick," began the wavemaster. "Maybe we should take a break. This isn't good for you! For some reason, it seems to get worse every time you use the bracelet. Maybe it's the static pattern? B- but you need rest!"

Kite sighed. "Rest... Eternal sleep would be wonderful, dreamless bliss, but I promised I'd help you find Mia. I won't leave now," he said. "But you're right about it getting worse with the bracelet. My infection rate is nearly 100 because of all the data bugs we've encountered. If we come across too many more, then... No, let's not think about it..."

Somehow, Kite felt that if the infection within his data did reach 100, not only would a system error ensue, as Helba had told him, but that whatever was inside him, seeking domination would emerge with full control. Though he could barely remember more than the darkness, pain and menace of the dreams, the twin blade knew that it would not be pleasant. He glanced at the map in the upper right-hand corner of his vision.

"We're on the fourteenth floor," he murmured before Elk had a chance to reply to what he had said before. "D'you think the dungeon is much deeper?"

The wavemaster only shrugged, staring at Kite with a worried expression. And then they moved on. Three battles with uninfected monsters later, the pair emerged into an empty room.

Suddenly, there was a slight flash and a purple barbell creature, exactly like the golden Guardians Kite had fought elsewhere, materialized in front of them. They barely had time to register its appearance before red words floating in front of their eyes announced that Kite and Elk had entered battle mode. Kite ran forward and began to hack away at the creature's gelatinous hide while Elk cast a few offensive spells and the occasional healing spell. Looking at the monster's status as displayed on their screens, the pair saw only garbled digits where it's hit points should have been, but the hp gauge depleted normally.

Eventually, they emptied its hp gauge and the creature writhed, then disappeared, the bracelet contained at its center falling to the floor. But then it didn't. Instead, the bracelet stopped a few inches from the ground and floated upwards, something new forming around it. Kite and Elk's visions became filled with static and flashes of the opposite colors as a new barbell thing formed. This one, however, was quite unlike the others. The most noticeable difference was the plate armor adorning its hulk, a single spiky protrusion from each segment. The second main difference was that there was no bracelet. Instead, within the center there was a cat... Macha.

The feline's two crimson eyes half opened, gazing at Elk and Kite. The orbs were filled with pain and a pleading as if for help. Then, the barbell creature twitched and the eyes closed once more.

"Mia!" cried Elk and the creature attacked.

One of the prongs on the armor flashed and a powerful wood spell was hurled at them. Again, Kite felt the will stir in his mind, but he felt it pause, as if debating whether to seize control be patient. Apparently, it decided the latter. Elk registered severe damage, as did Kite. Therefore, the wavemaster quickly cast Pha Repth and Kite rushed forward to attack, slashing at the monster. It quivered, but the only other response was that it cast another spell at Elk while lashing out at the twin blade with two of its polygonal prongs. Kite barely dodged one thrust, but the other he couldn't avoid. It sliced across his shoulder, cutting the cloth and digital flesh. However, in the real world, Kite felt the searing pain of mingled fire and ice. Gasping in agony, he reeled backwards. Again, that other presence within his mind arose

That other mental power, seethed forward and with it returned mixed fragments of memories concerning the dreams and the meeting with Dusk. For long moments, Kite's mind writhed in conflict, but the foreign thing was driven back, barely. By this time, Elk had cast Pha Repth again and the digital wound upon Kite's shoulder was closing. He carefully avoided any more swipes by the monster as he attempted to drive the residual memories away as well.

At long last, the thing ceased its movement, quivered once, then began to dissolve. The cat inside curled up, shrouded by a faint glow. More light began to collect around the figure. Then, the light dimmed slightly and the body unfurled itself. And it was revealed to be Mia. Her eyes remained closed and her body floated gently downwards. But when her paws touched the ground, she staggered a step and put a hand to her head. Elk and Kite ran forward.

"Mia!" cried Elk, radiating pure joy.

"Hello Elk," said she.

Then, the cat looked past Elk at Kite. "Hey, that's a neat bracelet! Mind if I have a look?"

"Mia? You've lost your memories," said Elk.

"You can see it?" asked Kite, lifting his arm so that Mia could look closer.

She held the wrist, examining the artifact carefully. The occasional blue polygonal ring flashed outward. Kite barely kept himself from wincing, for every time the bracelet flashed, an icy pain wrapped about his wrist, just as it had done during the battles.

"What, you mean you can't see this fine bracelet?" asked Mia. "Oh well. As long as you know it's there. That's the same thing, isn't it?"

"Yea, it is," said Kite.

"Umm... We'll make new memories, Mia!" proclaimed Elk. "Let's go!"

Elk a few steps towards the doorway, then stopped, looking back at Mia. The cat gazed at Kite a few moments, as if seeing more than simply his outward appearance. Then, she turned and joined Elk, taking his hand before the two warped out of the dungeon. Kite followed barely a moment later and the three teleported back to the root town together.

(A/N: What happens when they return to the root town is described in a previous chapter. And this next segment is just this random bit that doesn't really fit in with the chapter after this one, nor does it fit anywhere else so far. Therefore it goes here. But it does have relevance to Blackrose and Kazu popping up a few chapters down the road...)

- - - - - - - - - - -

_The real world_

A weary sigh escaped the lips of a slim girl, sitting, doing homework at her desk in her bedroom. She had tanned skin, deep brown eyes that could either have the melty, doe-eyed quality that made people's hearts melt, or that could have a steely glint to frighten even the most determined pest; she had dark brown hair whose longest layer, when strait, brushed the shoulders. However, the ends were curved up. Her bangs were the only strands not flipped perfectly out. They were split into two thin sections, currently pinned at either side.

The girl wasn't really a girl at all, but a young woman, a sophomore in high school to be precise. And she was sighing for she could hear angry shouting from down stairs. Any moment now Kazuo would come into her room, looking afraid and sad. Three... Two... One...

"Sis? Akemi?" There came a knock at the young woman's door.

"Come in, Kazuo," she said.

A boy at least three or four years younger opened the door. He looked remarkably similar to his sister except for the hairstyle and color. His hair was a lighter brown, more tan or dark blond, really. And it was shorter, though it needed a haircut, seeing as how his bangs fell nearly to his nose.

"Mom and Dad are fighting again," he murmured. "Why? I know I've asked you a hundred times, but why must they fight?"

"Oh, Kazuo," said Akemi. "Again, I don't know. They... just don't seem to love each other anymore... or get along. They've been very stressed and they are taking it out on each other."

"I wish they wouldn't," replied the boy, coming over and sitting on his sister's lap, though he was a tad too big.

"I know, Kazu," murmured Akemi, wrapping her arms around her little brother. "I wish they wouldn't either, but..."

She trailed into silence as she had done so many times during earlier repetitions of this same conversation. For long moments, the siblings sat thus, taking comfort in each other's presence as the shouting of their parents continued.

Suddenly, Kazuo asked, "Why can't things be simple here like they are in The World?"

Taken aback by the unexpected question, Akemi was silent for several moments. Then she replied, "I honestly don't know... But I do know that nothing is as perfect or simple as it seems. The World is the same way."

"Mm."

* * *

Author's Notes

I don't think this chapter is as good as previous chapters, but part of that might be because I've been interrupted so many times in its writing.  As for the dialog between Kite, Mia and Elk, or when Elk and Kite saw Macha a couple times, that's approximately what they said.  If it is not exact, please forgive me.  I wrote that last bit at school and was unable to go and re-watch the scenes for refferance.

Also, thanks for any patience you have... and if there is something wrong with this chapter, please let me know, but don't flame me for it... I don't mind being burned, but I don't like it when people burn my paper.  It's mine, I tell you, My OWN, my precious... -hugglz paper and laptop and computors she uses to upload this story-

Anyway.. REVIEWERS:

Shar-Dono:    
Thanks for reviewing yet again!  Umm... after I'd already posted the chapter, I went back through and edited out the narrative lapses as well as changed a few things involving the messages from the boards.  I did mean admin...  oops...  But I've corrected that, too...  And it can be System admin... not admid.. I don't know why I had that d... anyway...  poor Kite, indeed.  While in this chapter, I don't think I went about it right, I was trying to show the struggle between poor Kite and yon Morgonna...  If you've any suggestions as to what I could do better, please say so!

Dreamcaster555:   
Kite is... ok?  Hahahaha...  eh.. He isn't ok... he still has a fever (that is caused by a virus -wink wink-) and Morgonna is making his life hell... eheheheheheheheheh!  BTW, I can say for certain that Tsukasa's dad will come into play in the next chapter, at least a little...

Tsukasathefominian:   
But ranting is fun!  weeeeeeee!  And, thankies for reading & reviewing!

Sesuna:   
so bad you'll cry?  That'll be the day... -attempts to picture thy tears-  -fails-  The anime of twilight doesn't really talk about much that happened in the video games beyond the nessesary references to Kite, Blackrose, and the other .hackers... and of course Balmung & Sanjuro are in teh anime...  So's Silver Knight...  But he's only in one episode.. Anyway... Now I have 1 prologue and five chapters.. yay!


	7. Tsukasa and Kite, The Most Annoying One

Fragments of a Shattered Mirror 

Disclaimer: I do not own any more of the .hack conglomeration than copies of the games, manga and anime. This plot happens to be mine, but allusions and references are made to events within the games/anime. And I do change things about the after-game things that happen (such as a tweak with the return of the bracelet and the heading off to Hidden Darkside Holy Ground to reclaim Mia...). So, no flaming!

About reviews: I would LOVE to have at least one person who reviews every chapter and gives me feedback other than "It was wonderful" or "It sucked." Suggestions, comments, and critiques are wanted and welcome.

Chapter 6

_I don't see why everyone gets so mad at me all the time. All I do is have some fun... Granted that people don't like having their characters killed, but they're the ones who choose not to give me what I want..._

_The World - Kite and Tsukasa_, _and later Sora_ (1 hour after Kite's collapse)

Tsukasa sat upon a boulder, a small island in an archipelago of windmills and wells that rose from a grassy sea. He gazed solemnly at the red-clothed twin blade lying upon the grass before the stone. The wavemaster, with Mia's aid, had brought Kite to this field in the Lambda server because it was a calm, often over-looked field and the monsters weren't particularly strong. Tsukasa had suggested it, though he didn't really know why, when Mia said that there were things that she needed to do. The cat-player didn't specify what she needed to do, but he knew well enough not to ask. It would be easy enough for Tsukasa to defend Kite and himself should the need arise, though it wasn't likely. The magic portals upon Rejecting Oblivious Wavemaster were few and far between.

As he sat there, awaiting a change in Kite's condition, Tsukasa tried to squelch the kaleidoscope of memories, stirred by this field and the nearby dungeon where many things had occurred. Memories of the cat Macha, memories of first meetings with Mimiru, Subaru, BT, Bear, Crim and Sora, memories of later encounters with those he could now call his friends, memories of the sleeping Aura and of Morganna, and random memories of wandering through the World. But the happier memories gave way to the wretched ones, the memories of pain and suffering, the memories of fear.

A shudder passed through the wavemaster's small frame and he shifted, wrapping his arms even tighter about his legs. His grey-lavender eyes shifted to the staff, lying next to him on the boulder for a moment, then turned back to Kite. The twin blade was the same as before; his face pallid, his breathing deep and slow and his body unmoving. It was if he was deep in peaceful slumber. The bracelet upon his wrist glowed softly to Tsukasa's eyes, pulsing softly with a gentle light.

"That's it!" exclaimed Tsukasa aloud and letting his legs dangle off the edge of the rock once more. "Mia is Macha, but in an altered form. Hmm..."

He then began to ponder the change, cogitating upon how it might have occurred and why. Tsukasa knew that Macha had sacrificed itself (the wavemaster had never been entirely certain whether the ethereal cat was male or female) in an effort to save him, but what had happened to the feline afterwards... Tsukasa didn't know. It made the wavemaster happy to know that at least it hadn't been deleted. Or, rather, /she/ hadn't been deleted. It seemed clear now that the cat, in all incarnations, was meant to be female.

Suddenly, Kite's fingers twitched and a slight groan escaped his lips. His eyelids fluttered and opened, blinking slowly and squinting in the warm sunlight. Tsukasa jerked to attentiveness, slipping off the boulder and taking two steps over to Kite. Then, the wavemaster knelt down next to him.

"Hey, you OK now?" Tsukasa asked.

Kite didn't answer for a moment, but his green eyes simply stared into Tsukasa's, a weary, puzzled expression upon the twin blade's face.

"I don't know," murmured the twin blade at length. "Where am I?"

"Lambda, Rejecting Oblivious Wavemaster," was the reply.

"I didn't... do anything since... since the darkness took over, did I?"

"No," said Tsukasa. "You were unconscious the entire time. Do you know what happened to you?"

"Yes... and no," muttered Kite.

"What happened, then?"

Kite was silent again. He sat up, left hand rubbing his right wrist almost subconsciously, and gazed at the ground.

"I- I'm not entirely sure," he murmured at length. "But I think something within the game is trying to control me and I don't just mean controlling my character."

Tsukasa contemplated this a moment, then said, "I see. Do you have any idea what this something is? Or why it is doing this?"

"Morganna," whispered Kite, almost to low to be heard.

"Morganna? But she's gone, or at least the twisted version of her is gone," exclaimed Tsukasa, a trace of fear in his voice.

"You know what Morganna is?!" replied Kite, turning his head to stare at the wavemaster.

"Of course," stated Tsukasa. "She is the system itself, essentially, and the mother of Aura. But why do you say her? Aura has been born and the system has been restored to how it was meant to be. That includes the deletion of Morganna."

Kite nodded. "But not all of her was deleted," he said, sighing. "Most, but not all. I think the scrap that remains is trying to take revenge. At least that's what she told me."

"She spoke to you?"

"I think so, that is, if it wasn't all a dream. But it couldn't have all been a dream... Not if that person on the message board really saw it. But I can't remember most of it."

"What do you mean? When did she talk to you?"

"Yesterday evening, I think. I don't know. It's like someone took all my memories, put them in a snow globe and then reinserted them into my mind." Kite shook his head. "Fragments of things of today, yesterday and possibly the day before come back to me at times, though never in any order..."

"I know the feeling well," murmured Tsukasa, sighing and standing up. "Too well. She does that to you, though, showing only the darkest memories, or bits and pieces here and there to suggest certain feelings or thoughts to you."

Kite gave him a strange look. "How did that ever happen to you?"

Tsukasa was silent for a long moment, then said, "While Aura was yet asleep, Morganna took me completely inside the game, bonding me to Aura so that my thoughts and feelings affected her. When I first became trapped, I couldn't really remember anything from the real world. But later, memories came back in bits and pieces, but only the worst ones..."

Kite nodded. "Why'd that happen to you, though?"

"Why to me in particular? I'm not entirely sure. But by using me, Morganna was trying to prevent Aura's birth."

Kite nodded again, then sighed. Several minutes passed, then he said, "For some reason, I remember all of the dreams, though. (he shivered) They all begin in darkness..."

Compelled for some unknown reason, though reluctant, Kite then began to relate his dreams to Tsukasa. He did not interrupt, but listened patiently, knowing that Kite just needed to talk, to let the horrid memories flow out. When the twin blade had finished, both were silent for a while, each thinking about what Kite had said, for some of it he hadn't even remembered until he spoke it.

Then, willing himself to think of other things, Kite sighed and got to his feet, gazing at Tsukasa for a moment before speaking again.

"Out of curiosity, Elk called you Amaya. Are you, by chance, the same Amaya Yamamoto who attends my school? I think I have history with you."

"Why, yes, I am. You are Kite Nakahara in the real world, too, then?" Tsukasa smiled. "You left school early today."

"Yea, I had a fever. I still do, I think," said the boy. "But how did you know? I don't have any afternoon classes with you."

"The teacher asked me to deliver a note to the nurse's office and as I was headed there, I saw you leaving with a woman I can only presume to be your mother."

"I see," said Kite, somewhat grateful for this diversion of subjects. Though he didn't know it, Tsukasa was also happy for the change. "Why do you have a male wavemaster character?"

Tsukasa shrugged. "I liked the design better. Perhaps it's some subconscious influence from my father who often shouts he wishes that he had a son when he's drunk, or high, or both."

The wavemaster said this with such an air of nonchalance that Kite almost thought he was joking. "Your father uses alcohol and drugs?" he asked at length.

Suddenly realizing what he had said, Tsukasa was at a loss for words. "Uh... I didn't mean to say that," he stuttered.

"But you did," said Kite, standing gazing sharply at the other. "Will you answer my question?"

The wavemaster gazed at the ground, fingering his staff uncomfortably. "Yea," he murmured, almost too quiet to hear. "My dad gets drunk every now and again and does drugs. Cocaine. He's not home most of the time, away on business trips. I have no idea what he does and couldn't care less. He ignores me most of the time... But... sometimes, when he remembers that I exist..."

As he went on, Tsukasa's voice became broken, as if he were trying to hold back tears. Kite took a step towards him, no, her. Amaya's true feelings, her true self was showing through the mask she wore within The World, peeping through the façade. The avatar that was Tsukasa clutched his staff tightly, as if the solid, steadiness of the object could somehow be absorbed. Kite put a hand on the wavemaster's shoulder.

"What happens?"

"You don't want to know."

"But I do. Sometimes it helps to talk. I know it helped me."

Tsukasa sighed and looked up at Kite. The twin blade could see tears trace lines down the wavemaster's face, glimmering in the sunlight.

"Maybe you're right," said Tsukasa, voice still shaky and broken. "Being ignored isn't so bad when you're used to it, but it's so lonely... And... Though I have a few friends... They don't really understand... I can't tell them... But when father gets drunk... Sometimes he yells and breaks things. He'll throw things at me, but his aim isn't very good, and he just rants. But sometimes, he's deadly quiet... He's got a mad glint in his eye... That's when it's worst... It's like a time bomb and if you are in the wrong place at the wrong time, then... Oh, Kite, it's awful... The bruises don't go away for a week or more."

( A/n : If you don't get the random emotional outburst, then you are either a) a girl who hasn't yet reached puberty or b) a guy who has no experiences with pubescent females and/or random mood swings... and/or c) have no experience or idea as to how depression affects your emotions... If you don't even know what puberty is, don't worry... You will soon enough... Ask your parents... As for depression, I'm sure you'll learn about it in health class at school...)

He trailed off into silence, shuddering. Kite, as Tsukasa had done while the twin blade told his tale, remained silent, letting the wavemaster be, though he left his hand upon Tsukasa's shoulder.

"At least when he's high, he usually doesn't realize I'm there... But when he does, he thinks I'm my mother... He acts all charming and suave... as if he was on a date with her or something, the bastard... I hate his guts."

"Then why don't you report him to the police? Not only is cocaine illegal, but so is beating you up."

"I know," Tsukasa sighed, a dejected look upon his face. "But... I don't want to go to an orphanage or something. I know Bear said that he'd help me if... But he's already helping me with things and I don't want to burden him even more... The police already came and 'investigated' after I woke up from the coma, but all they did was to send him to therapy for a couple of months. Decided that he was just distraught... Damn morons..."

"But if you had a tape recorder or something, then you could prove that he was abusive. Or you could call the police when you know he has drugs with him."

Tsukasa shook his head. "No."

Kite sighed. "But–"

"No!" repeated Tsukasa with a tone of finality that ended any further protests by the twin blade. "Not yet..."

The wavemaster turned his eyes towards the horizon. "Sometimes I wish I'd never come out of the coma... Never had to face that ludicrous world."

Kite was silent. Then he said, "Mom's coming up the steps. She'll probably make me get off..."

A few moments passed and, through the microphone of Kite's headset, the voice of his mother was audible, though barely:

"Kite! You should be in bed. Have you been playing all this time? Log off and get some sleep! You're still sick, hun. Five minutes and I want you back in bed."

"Yes mother," replied the twin blade.

"Bye, Amaya, or Tsukasa, I should say. Thanks... Oh, here's my member address. Email or flashmail me if you want..."

"Bye, Kite," replied the wavemaster. "I hope you feel better."

Three golden rings transported the twin blade from the field. Then, from the root town, he logged out. Tsukasa, however, remained, gazing off into the digital sky. No background music played in his ears, no sound but the whispering of the wind through the grasses.

A disturbance in the air and a slight whoosh announced the arrival of another player nearby. Tsukasa had just begun to turn towards this new individual when he was snatched from behind and all but lifted off his feet. The wavemaster felt two blades held to his throat and heard a gleeful cackle from behind.

"Arg! Sora, let me go!" hissed the wavemaster.

"Aw, how did you know it was me, little wavemaster?" said the twin blade.

"That stupid laugh, now, let me go. You already have my member address and I don't have any items!"

"But I just wanted to say hello! I haven't seen you in the World in a long time," remarked Sora. "Mimiru and Subaru said that you weren't playing anymore."

"I decided to try playing again," explained the twin blade. "But don't tell them. I don't know if I'll keep playing and I don't want them to pester me more than usual. Now, will you please put me down? I could do without an accidentally slit throat. I would also prefer not to be scratched either."

"But it's not as if you'd actually feel it, y'know. You aren't trapped within the game anymore."

"Be that as it may, I still want to be released!" Tsukasa didn't bother pointing out that he could still feel.

"Hmm.. no! I still have twenty minutes before mother will make me get off, so that's twenty minutes of fun!"

Tsukasa groaned. "Some of us have homework to do and would like to be let go so that they can log out and go do it."

"Why didn't you do it before logging on? I thought Amaya was the best student in her grade."

"I knew that if I didn't log on now, then I'd never work up the nerve to do it later. Now put me down!"

"Again, no!"

"Fine!" Though it was difficult to do with the vice hold Sora had upon him, Tsukasa lifted his staff and cried, "Me rai don!"

A large bolt of lightening dropped out of the sky, thwacking Sora and knocking him a good twenty feet backwards. Tsukasa fell to the ground in a heap, but managed to pick himself up before Sora had returned from where he had been thrown. The wavemaster held his staff defensively in front of him.

"That wasn't very nice," whined Sora, pouting. "You're acting like Mimiru!

"And you're acting like a retarded monkey."

"Awe... Tsukasa's having a bad day?"

"No, you just interrupted my thoughts. I was in this field specifically because it is, or rather, was quiet and I could think in peace."

"What were you thinking about so hard that you needed absolute peace?"

"Nothing that concerns you!"

"Someone at school? Ooooh! Is Tsukasa in love?"

"No," replied the wavemaster, barely containing a fit of laughter. "I was thinking about things in the World..."

"Like what? Come on, tell me! I'm all ears... Please?"

Tsukasa sighed and rolled his eyes. "No."

And then the wavemaster was gone in a trio of golden rings.

By the time Sora reached the root town, Tsukasa had logged out.

A/N:

This chapter was a bit shorter, but this was the best place to end it. The next segment is long and really belongs in another chapter.

Before you ask, yes there /is/ going to be a pairing or two, (besides the requisite Mia Elk) but whether it's Tsukasa Kite or if I throw Blackrose into the mix or whether I do something entirely different shall not here be told... muahaha

To my reviewers:

Sesuna: Sorry about not getting on AIM; I've been pretty busy... -sigh- I miss talking to you too.. anyway, thanks for reviewing.. Dialog is not my strong point...

Shar-dono: Thanks for reviewing again! The reason I didn't like that chapter as much is because my writing of it got so interrupted. Anyway, until now, there was no chapter 6... did you mean the 6th section? Sometimes it is a day or two before you can get to the most recent section from the profile or rest of the story...

Tsukasathefoaminian: -smile- yes, Mia is back! Weee! Why do I torture Kite? Hmm... because of his dorky hat?! -sarcasm- I hope you liked this chapter...

Alex Warlorn: This story takes place about two months after Kite defeats Corbannik. Morty? Who's Morty? I know Zefie is Aura's daughter... But she doesn't pop up for another 4ish years...

...... : I have played the fourth game and Macha is the sixth phase. And you're wrong. Sorry and no offense, but you are... You seem to have gotten facts messed up or misinterpreted things... First of all, the pink cat was called Maha, but Bandai changed its name to Macha. Same pronunciation, different spelling. Macha the phase is what Mia turns into. If you've played the absolute final event of the plotline of quarantine, then you would realize that Macha (pink cat) became Mia (purple cat) became Macha (6th phase) became Macha (pink cat) became Mia (purple cat) Here's how it worked: In Sign, Macha (Maha) was the creature who first contacted Tsukasa and drew the wavemaster into the whole slew of events that follow. In one of the later episodes, Macha sacrificed itself for Tsukasa. Macha was data drained, if I remember rightly. Anyway, about six months later, Infection begins and Mia is there, randomly wandering the game. At first, we know little about her, but if you play through all four games, you see that every time the servers malfunction or crash, Mia gets more and more messed up. She collects Aromatic Grass because it contains fragments of her data, the data of Macha. At long last in quarantine, when the time for the sixth phase rolls around, and this data converges within Mia and transforms her into the phase Macha. Kite defeats her and data drains her, which essentially kills Mia. Elk is sad, blah, blah. After all the phases are defeated and the system is restored, two months go by and both Kite and Elk receive and email asking them to come to omega, hidden darkside holy ground. The two go there and they see a pink cat. Elk thinks the cat is Mia (he's kind of in love with her... O.o). Anyway, down a few levels, we run into the pink cat again and it tells Kite that its name is Macha (not Maha, but Macha... see? the name was changed, though it is still pronounced the same) You go down to the bottom of the dungeon and go into a room and there is a purple jelly guardian thingy there. It is called the Dawn Wanderer. Defeat is and the bracelet drops out of it. But a new thing forms around it. This is called the Temptress Lover. Where the bracelet should be, there is Macha, the pink cat with red eyes. Kill Temptress Lover and there's a cut scene in which the monster dies and Macha is transformed into Mia. She is reborn. Thus the cycle is complete and thus I am not changing it around, but am following the story line in that regard. –gasps for breath–

Seia: Thanks for reviewing! I know that at this moment, you happen to be reading through my chapters... so –pokes you for NO REASON!– muahaha


	8. Darker Dreams, Paternal relations

Ok... so I get internet at home via satelight... and teh part of the satelight that sends information to us is BROKEN.. so I dont' have internet.. I'm posting this stuff from school... So my posting will be irregular and.. yea... I will get new internet in a bit over a month, but until then... eh...  


Chapter 7

_I sometimes wish it had never happened, that I had not played that game and fallen into a coma, that I had not been trapped, that I had not felt that bitter pain and loneliness… But then I think about the experience and the friends it brought me… I remember the joyful things… And I know that I'm better able to deal with things like pain… But still, sometimes I wish that it had never happened…_

_Kite – real world_

At first, that evening, Kite did not dream, but slept peacefully for several hours. However, at long last, the dreams invaded, seeming worse than those of the night before.

Again, Kite was suspended in utter darkness, not merely of sight, but of sound and feeling as well. The chill of the void crept first into the boy's limbs, then into his lungs and into his heart. For a time, he resisted the waves of despair and helplessness, but now his defiance faltered. And this was when the voice returned.

"Ah, the foolish boy still resists, does he? I'm sure you feel so proud of yourself for yet another triumph," she hissed. "Freeing that worthless, traitorous Macha… Or Mia, as you call her. Though, I shouldn't say worthless, I think, for she did bring that one to me, but, then again, she cancelled out her loyalty by helping Tsukasa when that one turned from me… But in your quest to aid Macha, you helped be gain more control over you. With your data draining you bring fragments of my creation back to me… For which I thank you. It makes revenge so much easier."

"Leave me alone," Kite managed to force his lips to say. "I won't be your tool!"

"But you will," replied the voice with a cackle. "If not for the connection still forged between Aura and Tsukasa, you would already be completely under my sway. However, even with the powers of those two, you shall not remain free much longer."

"No," said Kite, struggling and suddenly breaking free of the cold that bound him. It barely registered in his mind that now he was the twin blade from the World, and not the small bespectacled boy from the real world. Anyway, he drew his daggers and slashed out in the direction he perceived the voice to emanate from.

Laughter resounded behind him and it was a cruel, mocking sound. "You cannot touch me, much less harm me. Even if you could, to do so would be to wound yourself."

Kite said nothing but turned towards the voice and slashed again. The voice just chuckled. The boy glared into the darkness. Then, an idea struck him and he looked down at his wrist. Though actual sight was impossible in the gloom, he knew what he was gazing at.

Taking one of his daggers, Kite slashed at his wrist. The bracelet flashed and the boy felt a twinge of icy pain, but the blade was turned aside with out even leaving a scratch.

"You would dare destroy that precious gift?" The voice sounded annoyed, but unconcerned.

Then she laughed, saying, "But /this/ bracelet is more durable than its predecessor. Besides, this bracelet was only my gateway… now, I am within you and destroying the gateway would only make it harder to get rid of me."

Kite ignored the voice and tried to slice the bracelet again and again, but it would not break. After a time of his futile efforts, the voice said, "I grow tired of your foolish actions. Will you not cease voluntarily or must I force you?"

Kite again ignored her and continued his attempts to break the bracelet. A final slash resulted only in the blade shattering. Therefore the voice spoke again.

"Very well. In time you will obey me…"

And a torment filled his senses so intense that Kite couldn't hold back his screams. The agony was greatest around the boy's wrist and head, but painful waves coursed through his body. Collapsing upon whatever surface he seemed to stand upon, Kite writhed, muscles contorting and twitching spasmodically.

Then, the pain ended. Kite lay gasping and limp, to weak to do more than lay there. The voice simply laughed, but the noise faded as the boy's consciousness faded. And he fell into deep, dreamless sleep once more.

However, after a short time of untroubled rest, a new dream took shape, quite different from the last, but it was worse.

The dream began with Kite and Blackrose descending a dungeon in the World. The walls, floor and ceiling of this place might once have been gray stone, but now they were splotchy with raw data patches and the air occasionally sparked with reverse colors, random symbols or white noise.

The pair stood before a doorway wreathed in violet flames. However, as Kite stepped forward, the fire vanished. Faces grim, the two walked through. Ten, they found themselves upon a floating island, brown and desolate. Eight glowing orbs hovered before them. A flash of light caused the spheres to expand and morph, each one taking the shape of a monster strange and yet entirely too familiar; the eight phases Skeith, Innis, Magus, Fidhell, Gore, Macha, Tarvos, and Corvenik ( in the form of a single eye).

Skeith lifted his wand and came forward. Kite and Blackrose retreated a step, drawing closer together and holding their weapons at the ready.

"Wh- what's happening?" cried Blackrose. "What the hell is this?!"

"I don't know," said Kite.

And then the phases rushed forward, forming a circle about the pair so that there was no escape. Back to back, Kite and Blackrose stared at the monstrosities, unsure which one to face. Skeith, again, was the first to step forward. It swung its wand out at Blackrose, but she blocked it. A moment later, the rest of the phases pounded upon the ground, or sent out a shockwave. This caused both of the players to loose their balance and fall to the ground. Before either could rise, Skeith darted forward and struck the heavyblade with his wand. Blackrose, flung into Kite, cried out as a blue polygonal orb surrounded her and shattered. Then, before either could react, Blackrose was drawn upwards, the red wand materializing behind her, binding her to it.

The wand hovered between Kite and Skeith and a voice within the twin blade's head whispered, "Data Drain her…"

"No!" cried the twin blade. "Blackrose!"

The phases laughed and the voice said, "Do as I say and Data Drain Blackrose!"

Again, Kite cried, "No," clutching his head.

However, his muscles moved of their own accord and Kite found himself standing up and holding his arm out towards Blackrose. She gazed at him, her garnet eyes wide with fright.

"Won't," he moaned, struggling against whatever controlled him. "Let me go… Must… not… drain… eugh!"

However, despite his best efforts, Kite was unable to prevent the dark force from rising and activating the bracelet, and even less able to wrest physical control from the force and turn his head away. The blue polygonal ring expanded. Rays of colored light flew from each point of the bracelet's sections, converging upon Blackrose. For a split second, Blackrose appeared to be Aura, then collapsed upon the ground, the wand reappearing in Skeith's hand. Kite, regaining control over his own movements, ran over to the heavy blade. Kneeling next to her, Kite reached out to take her hand.

"Kite," she gasped, looking up at him, her garnet eyes dim and confused. "Why…?"

And then, even as Kite touched her, Blackrose disappeared entirely.

"No… Blackrose…"

Kite stared at the place where the girl had been for a long time. Then, the twin blade stood up, clenching his fists, a hard glint in his eyes. Raising his head, he glared at the phases, Skeith most of all. Leaping forward, daggers in hand, he slashed at Skeith.

However, even as the blade descended to strike, Skeith morphed into Tsukasa, gazing up at him with his sad lavender-grey eyes. The wavemaster blocked the slash with his staff, but made no other movement. Kite leapt back, confused.

"What are you doing, Kite?" asked Tsukasa. "You can't let Morganna control you…"

"I –" began Kite, but nearly choked on his words when Tsukasa became Elk.

"You – You killed Blackrose," cried Elk, eyes wide, frightened and yet accusing. "Just like you killed Mia!"

"No," moaned Kite. "I didn't mean to… I didn't want to…"

And then, with a wild cry, Elk leapt forward, swinging his staff at Kite's head. But he wasn't Elk; he was Balmung.

"Player Killer," hissed the blade master. "You have been corrupted by that bracelet you bear. You deserve death…"

Kite looked up at Balmung, confusion and grief contained in the twin blade's cerulean eyes. Then he bowed his head, a defeated expression upon his face.

"Go ahead, then," he murmured. "She wouldn't be able to use me anymore…"

Balmung looked at Kite strangely for a moment, then said, "Very well. Die, then."

Balmung lifted his sword to strike. At that moment, however, the dark presence rose up again and took control of the twin blade. Though he tried hard to resist the manipulation, Kite could not prevent himself from stabbing upward, driving his jagged blade up through Balmung's stomach and into a lung, despite the plate armor. Balmung's eyes widened in pain and surprise.

Tears formed in the corners of Kite's azure eyes even as his hand jerked the blade, twisting it out. "Please… forgive… me," he whispered.

Balmung opened his mouth to say something, but all that came out was a wordless moan, punctuated with a bubble of blood. Pain filled the blade master's purple eyes and he let his sword clatter to the ground. Balmung fell to his knees, then collapsed, limp as a rag doll. For a few moments, blood dripped form his wound, staining the ground, then his body turned gray and faded into dust. Two pearly feathers drifted through the air where the knight had stood, one landing in the pool of blood, the other in Kite's hand. Now, the tears fell freely from the twin blade's eyes.

"How… Mia… She's still alive… but she was the first… and then Blackrose, dear Blackrose… How could I do that to you?! Blackrose… And now Balmung…"

"What did I tell you?" asked the voice of Morgonna.

"Leave me alone!" cried Kite, his voice cracking, but firm. He flung the bloody dagger away, cupping the feather in both hands.

The voice laughed. "How can I? I am a part of you! I /am/ you…"

Kite clenched his hands around the feather, a burning rage filling him. "No, you're not," he said, softly, his emotions barely in check. "You are not me! You are merely a parasite using me!"

"Am I? Well now, perhaps, but in time… Don't worry, boy," said the voice in a mocking tone. "You won't rid of me before you and I are one. I've already proved that I can master you… You cannot resist much longer."

"Leave me," sobbed Kite, his emotions breaking through. "You need not gloat… Just go!"

"Very well," said the voice, still laughing. And then the laughter faded.

In the silence, Kite mourned his friends, closing his eyes and still clutching the feather. Thoughts of bitter despair circled around his mind, accompanied by grief.

A faint call disturbed his thoughts, but at first Kite could not open his eyes to see who it was. Then he felt a gentle shake and heard the call again.

"Kite," came the murmur. "Honey, wake up. It's morning and I need to take your temperature."

- - - - - - - - - -

_Tsukasa – real world_

Amaya sighed as she placed her headset aside. For the first time logging back into the World since the incident, it wasn't as bad as it could have been. She sat, gazing at the empty computer screen for several minutes before standing up and stretching. The girl was too sleepy to do her homework, but not quite ready to go to bed. Therefore, she determined to go downstairs to the kitchen and get a drink and a snack before retiring to sleep.

Once in the kitchen, Amaya poured herself a glass of milk and retrieved a cookie from one of the cupboards. She sat at the table as she ate, staring at the wall, her mind still preoccupied with the events of the past couple hours. Therefore, she wasn't aware of the car pulling into the driveway or of a tall, scraggly man getting out of it. He wore glasses with thick lenses, much like Amaya, and had the same stormy gray eyes.

Amaya did, however, snap out of her thoughts when she heard a key turn in the lock and the door open. She didn't have time to run back to her room before he would see her, so she just had to hope that he wasn't drunk. However, her hopes seemed to be true for the man came in, his gait steady and strait and his eyes clear. At first he didn't even notice his daughter seated at the table, but walked over to the refrigerator. He pulled the door open and examined the contents. He removed a can of cola, shut the door and turned around. Only now did his eyes alight upon Amaya.

A tired sigh passed through his lips as he gazed at his daughter. "Hello, Amaya," he said.

"Hello, father," she replied, not looking at him, but fiddled with the hem of her long shirt meant to be tucked into the skirt she wore to school.

"You look so much like your mother," murmured the man with another sigh as he opened his can of coke. "Oh God, I miss her…"

"I know," said Amaya, glancing up at her father. "I do, too."

"She wouldn't have let me be such a shitty father. If she hadn't died." He made as if to go on, but changed his mind and only added a second, "If she hadn't died…"

Amaya said nothing. Such spouts of regret were not uncommon, but in this fashion? Never. Not once had her father ever said anything about his own parenting skills. What was the matter? Had something happened? Amaya didn't know, but she didn't trust herself or her dad enough to ask. Therefore, she remained silent, letting him talk. Perhaps she could glean what she needed to learn that way.

"Oh, if she hadn't died, maybe none of this would have happened. Maybe I wouldn't of fucked up my life… Maybe I would have, but… Oh, Kai… Ever since you died, I've been lost," uttered Mr. Yamamoto, seemingly forgetting that he had an audience. Amaya wondered if, in nights alone, he had done the same, reciting his sorrows to the wall, or to a picture of his deceased wife, Amaya's dear mother.

"I… I'm sorry Amaya," said the man, suddenly turning to his daughter.

The girl stared at her father, wide-eyed. He'd never apologized to her before. What the hell was going on?

"F-father?"

"Heh… This must seem pretty hypocritical coming from me… Or… Just not right, I suppose," mused he, coming over and taking the seat opposite Amaya. "Look… I guess I've had an awakening or something… I… I'm gonna try to… y'know… come clean. I'm sick and tired of being a slave to the bottle and the needle… I'm sick of feeling so wretched all the time, sick of wallowing in anger and grief, sick of the guilt. Most of all, I'm just sick… I'm tired of living. I wish I could have done a better job… With you and… so much more."

Quite unexpectedly, Amaya burst into tears, putting her head in her arms upon the table. Mr. Yamamoto looked startled for a moment.

"What's the matter? Amaya?"

"Nothing's the matter," she said, raising her head to look at her father through blurred eyes and steamy glasses. "Thank you! It's… It's just…"

The man smiled, but it was an empty smile, fixed to an empty shell; but at least it was a smile. "It's OK," he said. "I think I understand…"

He rose and came around the table next to his child. And then he gave her an awkward hug. "Go to bed," he murmured. "It's late…"

Amaya nodded and arose as well, turning and walking towards the stairs.

"And Amaya?"

She turned back.

"Though it may not seem like it most of the time," said he. "I love you… Even though… I know I wanted a son so badly that… Nevermind… Just know that despite all that, I do love you."

Amaya nodded and smiled through her tears. "I know, father, I love you, too. G'night."

- - - - - - - - -

The next morning, early as she had school, Amaya half expected to find her father crashed on the couch, a bottle of something on the floor next to him. Heaven only knows how many times she had found him like that, but, to her relief, he was not asleep on the couch, but neither was he in the kitchen anywhere. He certainly hadn't been in his bedroom. Her father never went there if he could help it because that was where Kai had died. Amaya never entered that room either, save to clean it once every month or two.

Puzzled, Amaya looked out the window, but his car was in the driveway. Still baffled, she turned back to the kitchen. Then she espied a letter upon the kitchen table, labeled "For Amaya." She walked over to it, picked it up and opened it. Inside there was a letter than ran thus:

_Dear Amaya_

_Again, I am sorry I have been such a lousy father. I don't think I can ask you to forgive me… But I do ask you to remember me as I was before… Not since. I've gone for a walk to think things over. So, in case I don't see you again… Farewell._

_Love Yoshi Yamamoto_

Amaya stared at the letter for long moments, reading and rereading it many times. It's meaning confused her, but seemed to suggest something she did not want to think about. Therefore, she didn't let herself consider the possibility. Instead, she regarded the letter as merely stating that her father still felt sorry and had gone for a walk.

The girl then began to get ready for school. It occurred to her that the only homework she had accomplished had been what she had completed in class. But she did have a good excuse for not finishing it, if one ignored the fact that she had played the World for several hours. Ah well, this would be the first time this school year in which she had not done her homework, so the teachers were inclined to be lenient.

At school that day, for once, she did not take detailed notes, writing down the most important things more out of habit than anything else. No, her mind was elsewhere, either drifting around the events in the World, or the behavior of her father the night before. Kite was not at school that day , so Amaya assumed that he was home, still unwell. A teacher asked her a question in history, but Amaya didn't answer, her attention not upon the subject. The teacher repeated her name, louder and the girl was startled out of her thoughts.

"I apologize," she murmured, rising and bowing once to the teacher. "My mind was elsewhere. What was the question?"

The class snickered and laughed, pleased that the teacher's pet, as they had labeled Amaya, was caught doing something wrong. She, however, employed a special talent she had picked up when she was younger: ignoring people.

After school, she called Mimiru's cell on a pay phone and told her friend that she wouldn't be coming over. She had things she needed to do.

"What things?" asked Mimiru. "We don't have school tomorrow, so it can't be homework. Did your teachers assign you a project or something? Or could it be that Amaya's finally gotten herself a date?"

"Tch, no," replied Amaya. "I do not have a date, nor do I have a school project. It's... personal. Please understand."

"Your father?"

"Yes and no."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"A little bit has to do with him, but the rest involves a friend of mine."

"Oh, who?"

"I don't think you'd know him and I don't know if he'd want me to tell you. I'm sorry."

"Amaya! What are you hiding?"

"Nothing! Why are you so nosy!? Gah, it's just like when I first met you!"

"Hey! Does that mean you "really don't like me," again? Anyway, Sora emailed me saying that you were logged into the World last night. And I was just making sure you weren't hiding at your place just to play the World when you've been telling me and Subaru that you didn't want to play…"

Amaya scowled at the phone. "I was just trying it out again, yesterday! I don't know if I'll keep playing. But, it figures Sora would go and tell everyone that I was playing again!"

"Actually, if we can trust his word, he only told me before running off to bother Subaru and Krim."

"Good. I don't want everyone knowing or thinking that I'm playing again whether I am or not," Amaya said with a sigh. "It's just…"

"I think I know what you mean. That's OK. I won't tell anyone, but don't you think Subaru ought to know?"

"No… I got to go. I don't have anymore change and the phone is warning me that I have thirty seconds left."

"All right. Bye Tsukasa," said Mimiru, teasing. "I'll call you tomorrow, 'K?'

Amaya rolled her eyes. "Fine. Good bye, Mi."

The girl then hung up and headed for home. Once there, she noted that her father's car was still in the driveway. Amaya then unlocked the front door and entered.

"Father?" she called, heading for the refrigerator to get a drink.

But there was no answer. Amaya called again. Still, no answer. There was no note on the table, nor anywhere else she could see, so she assumed that her father was still out and about, but why was he gone so long? He might have decided to walk around the city, but that didn't seem like him, no matter how Amaya pictured the situation. Now, the hypothesis of the morning crept back to her mind.

"No," she hissed aloud. "That couldn't of happened! No!"

Attempting to block out that possibility once more, the girl made her way upstairs and, setting her backpack down, turned on her computer. However, her idea kept inserting itself into the foremost of her thoughts. Therefore, a few minutes later, she opened the "Local News Bulletin," maintained and updated by the local news station, with baited breath and tense muscles. And that's when her heart sank. Squeezing her eyes shut as if to block the article, Amaya clenched her fist and pounded it upon the desk.

"No… Why, damn it, why?!"

* * *

A/N: Cliff hangers.. don't ya love 'em? Muahaha… This just seemed like a good place to end it and I do believe this is my longest chapter to date. Muahahaha….

News! -shiney-new-spiffeh- The third volume of the manga .hacklegend of the twilight bracelet is out! (and has been for a couple weeks) -hugglz it- I like that manga so much better than the anime of legend… eurgh… The anime annoys me. They turn Reki into a back-stabber, for Pete's sake. No, Reki! Don't join the darkside!! Don't side with Kamui! -sniffle-

Anyway, about the MANGA of .hack legend of the twilight bracelet:

Overall: Cute, awesome story line! Great artwork! Way to bring in random cannon characters and add new ones! Yay! -hugglz Balmung, her favorite character from the trilogy of manga volumes- I love Balmung! He's such a wonderful idiot who is not always an idiot, but is cute and uberawesome no matter what he does ('cept in the first volume of the games where he just irked me, but that's the games, not the manga)! Muahaha! Oh, and if you look carefully, I think you can find Tsukasa and Subaru in the backgrounds in a few places in each of the volumes… I know you can in the second and third, and I know Tsukasa's in the back of the first, but I'm not sure about Subaru in the first one…

Volume 1: Nifty beginning… doesn't seem to know quite where it's going yet, introduces character, though… cool characters! And has a few of my favorite quotes/ scenes: (and inspiration for another fanfic)

Reki: The suits are looking for you.

Balmung: Just ignore them. You shouldn't take everything so seriously, Reki.

Reki: Have you been drinking, Balmung? I didn't know they had programmed Sake. What's the point? It's not as if you can get a buzz from a virtual drink.

Balmung: DON'T SPOIL MY FANTASY! -waves his Sake bottle around- I always drink Sake at the Cherry Blossom Festival! I don't care if the buzz isn't real – I can role-play being drunk!

Reki: If it's so important to you, why don't you just go to the festival in the real world?

Balmung: You don't have to rub it in.

-and-

Reki: -thinks- I hate my job! –says- This year's Tanabata event is OVER! Come on… Applaud, dammit!

Volume 2: More awesomeness… More characters, 'specially Zefie (aura's daughter) who is just cool. She gives a grunty a pink afro! That's gotta count for something! Although it leaves off with a cliffie (-strangles producers of manga-), it is still well written. Muahaha.. and little back ground things are fun! You see a few of the characters from the games and/or anime wandering around like Nuke Ukasumi and Rachel.. and Piros.

Quoty-Quotes:

Hotaru: OH MY GOD!!! MY GRUNTY HAS A PINK AFRO!!

-And-

Shugo asside: I'm Shugo Kunisaki, 14 years old, 9th grade… And I've been kissed by a mother and daughter team!

-and-

Wiseman Balmungs little conversations…

Volume 3: Awesome!! Nifty ending, fun random stuff at the end and random cannon characters popping up. –resists telling you more- -resists spoiling it- Must not spoil…

Anyway, now that that long and involved tangent is over, let us move on to reviews:

Sesuna: Thanks for reviewing as always!

Murgatroyd: thankyou for the information concerning their names. I knew some had official n ames, but I didn't have a chance to look them up. Ehehe...

Dreamcaster555: Thanks for reviewing yet again! I do think I am going with a Kite-Tsukasa pairing... :)

WavemasterAeris: Thanks!

Minako: gah.. you read my mind. About the Tsukasa Kite pairing... but, uh... I can't guarantee Kite's sanity or his freedom... Ya find out about some of the stuff you asked in this chapter, but the other stuff comes later... yay

Littlepeepers: Thankyou! I just updated.. see my note at the top about the delay...


	9. Family Matters, Emails from friends

Fragments of a Shattered Mirror

Disclaimering: I own Bandai & all the .hack enterprise.. In my dreams, that is... Look, I don't technically own any more than copies of the games, manga & some of the anime (as in Liminality & 2 volumes of Dusk)... But the plot and some facets of the characters as I have chosen to portray them belong to my imagination..

Review would be nice once you've read this. If you truly hate it, tell me why... But don't expect me to fix everything that bothers you. Suggestions are always welcome, if not always followed.

Chapter 8

A/N I feel like doing a little more with Elk and Mia, so I'll leave ya hangin' with Amaya's situation… muaha

_The World – Elk, Mia_

The shy wavemaster had just logged on when Mia appeared at the chaos gate. A smile lit up his face and he waved vigorously to the purple cat. The cat waved back and sauntered over to her friend.

"Mia! I thought about you all day. I barely made it through the day," said Elk. "I hate school… (he sighed) I wish I could stay here all day with you."

"Hello Elk," said Mia, her tail twitching, her ears perked forward and a smile on her face as well. "I missed you, too. Why don't you like school? Isn't an edu… education supposed to be a good thing?"

Elk sighed again, poking at the ground with the end of his staff. "I like the education… I love learning, but it's everything else at school… the other kids, especially."

"Hmm… What do they do?"

"It's just three of them and they attack me… beat me up," said the boy, walking alongside Mia through the city of Mac Anu. "The rest just… don't do anything…"

Mia put a hand on Elk's shoulder. "Hey," she said. "Don't think about them now. Let's go have fun somewhere. You said that we were going to create new memories!"

"All right," replied the wavemaster, looking up at his friend. "I know the perfect place!"

The two returned the chaos gate and warped away. They reappeared in a pleasant, sunny, grassy field, dotted with lovely white flowers. Rolling hills and windmills filled the horizon, casting little if any shadow for the sun was high overhead. Elk gazed around, delight in his eyes for the lack of raw data patches or static.

"It's fixed," he murmured, a grin slowly spreading across his lips.

"It's beautiful… and somehow… so familiar," said Mia, looking about in joyful wonder.

"We used to come here a lot," said Elk, turning his eyes to the purple feline.

"We did?"

"Mmmhmm… This was our favorite place to be together because it was so beautiful and because it was where we… first met," explained the wavemaster, still gazing at Mia. "In the bottom of the dungeon… I was alone… and fighting this monster… I would have lost, but then you came along and helped me. Then we went to the Ghott statue and… uh… In the chest was a piece of aromatic grass. Like this one."

The boy then produced the seemingly useless item from his inventory and held it out to Mia. It looked like three elongated oval blades with pointed tips, joined at the base by a thin sheathe. They were a pleasant medium green in color, accentuated by a few lighter or darker stripes, barely perceptible at first glance. A faint, but pleasing scent wafted from the leaves. Mia looked down at them and, for some unknown reason, tears welled up in her golden eyes, though a smile turned the corner of her lips.

"You keep it, Elk… Keep it for me… Thank you," she whispered, before turning away.

Elk put the grass away and took a step towards Mia. He hesitated a few seconds, then put his hand on her shoulder. With a sob, Mia turned to him, burying her face in Elk's shoulder. Bewildered by the feminine outburst of emotion, Elk wasn't sure what to do, but he tried the best he could, wrapping his arms around the feline, regardless of the staff he held in one hand. Mia nuzzled further into the wavemaster's shoulder, comforted by him.

Rubbing her back, Elk murmured, "It's OK, Mia."

They stood like that for a while, Mia's own arms winding around Elk as well. Then, the cat tilted her head up from his shoulder, her golden, tear-soaked eyes gazing into Elk's crimson.

"Elk," she said, then, closing her eyelids, leaned forward and kissed him upon the lips.

Elk's own eyes opened quite wide in surprise and his staff slipped from his fingers. But he returned the kiss, two thoughts passing through his mind. The first was he loved Mia and wished that the kiss wouldn't end and the other being that it was a little odd to be kissing a cat, but that latter thought quickly vanished in a bubble of bliss.

Mia felt warm and fuzzy inside and out, relishing the comforting warmth of Elk's body as she pressed against him. She savored the kiss, not bothering to think about the problems of loving one who existed in two worlds while she existed only in one. For the moment, she didn't care about who and what she was, thinking only of how much she wanted to be with this wavemaster forever, and whether or not he felt the same way. She was sure he did.

And then they drew their lips apart, each opening their eyes and gazing at each other once more.

"I love you," said Mia, her voice low and purring.

"And I love you, Mia," said Elk. Then, quite to his own surprise, the wavemaster leaned his head forward and gave a kiss to Mia, again.

Again, the thought of how odd it was to kiss a cat trickled through his mind, but the exact physics of this process need not be laid out in detail. Suffice it to say that they managed. This time, yet another thought was in Elk's mind, too. He wished that he was really within the game, not an outsider, unable to feel, to really touch the World. The boy could have cared less about being able to do anything save for actually be with Mia as in be truly standing there, twined in an embrace with her, rather than only able to watch his avatar do it for him. And what was an avatar, anyway? Was it not a puppet manipulated by the user? Alas for puppets when it should really be him there. Who cares about a promising career in whatever he decided to go into? Who cares about school and his studies? When he could be with Mia… (ROMEO AND JULIET!! Er… sort of, anyway)

But now we leave these unfortunate lovers in peace, at least for the moment, and journey to the Yamamoto home in the real world.

_Real World – Tsukasa / Amaya_

First there was a blurry picture, taken, no doubt, from the video feed of one of the security cameras. The cameras weren't the best. In fact, they were far from the best, especially in surveillance technology, but they didn't need to be. The picture depicted a man dressed in a shabby suit in mid leap as an equally blurry subway train came speeding along. After the picture came the article…

'_Man jumps in front of subway committing suicide_

_reporter: Miyamoto Arata_

_This morning, a man whose identity has yet to be confirmed leapt in front of the 9:15 subway from Kyoto to Tokyo. According to eyewitnesses, he seemed tired and depressed. One woman claimed that right before he leapt in front of the oncoming train, the suicide victim shouted, "Forgive me Kai! Forgive me Amaya!" However, the claim is dubious considering that none of the others in the station reported hearing anything but a single incoherent yell as he leapt.'_

Amaya didn't bother to read the rest, but simply stared at the picture, glowing upon her computer screen. It was her father, no doubt about that…

Tears trickled from her eyes, not so much in morning for her father, as in a response everything that had happened. It wasn't that Amaya didn't love her father… On the contrary, she remembered him before her mother had died, before the problems and the girl still clung to those memories of the pair happily together. She'd loved the man her father had been. Maybe that was why she'd never called the cops, or why she'd always avoided getting any help… Maybe it was because she thought he would get over his grief. She had been so naïve. Just like this whole day.

Amaya /knew/ what her father was going to do in her gut. She knew through and beyond certain sure that the note was, in a way, a suicide note and she had known since she read it. Yet, she had deluded herself, forcing herself to be foolishly optimistic. The tears now overwhelmed her and, full of anger, hate, and a bitter grief, she put her head in her arms on the desk.

It was in just this position that, several sob-filled minutes later, a light chime from her computer's speakers announced that Amaya now had new mail. Sniffling and reaching for a tissue, she lifted her head and blinked at the screen. Her glasses rested on the table where her head had been and so it was rather difficult to see anything other than a glowing, box-shaped blur. Wiping her eyes and blowing her nose, though the tears still came, she replaced the glasses. Then, with a cry of disgust, she placed the curser over the close button and slammed her finger hard upon the left mouse button. And the news story vanished, leaving only the Altimit OS desktop.

She then clicked upon the 'email' icon and waited barely a second for her inbox to pop up. Scanning the list, she saw that she actually had four new emails. One from Mimiru, one from Sora, another from Bear and the most recent from Kite. Amaya debated which to open first and decided upon opening Bear's and then Kite's. The other two were probably about her recent revival of her account.

Sender: Bear  
To: Tsukasa  
Subject: The News

Message:  
Amaya:

I'm sure you've read the news about the suicide. I don't mean to pry or to jump to conclusions, but I am pretty sure that man was your father. If so… Well, if you need a place to stay, just give me a call. You don't have to talk about it… And you don't to call me right away. If you need a day or two by yourself… But I'll stop by if I don't hear from you after a while. Ok? You don't need to isolate yourself. Remember, you always have friends.

Bear

A half smile flickered across her face before Amaya moved on the Kite's email. She had no doubt that she would call Bear, but not tonight. Tomorrow… yes, tomorrow. She wouldn't be going to school tomorrow, anyway.

Sender: Kite  
To: Tsukasa  
Subject: Meeting

Message:  
Amaya-

Hey. Hope you had a good day at school. : )

Will you meet me in Dun Loireag? I'll be logging on in a few minutes and, if you're home… And reading this, it would be nice if you'd join me. Besides, I want to talk some things over with you.

Kite

Amaya again grasped a tissue and began to dry her eyes and blow her nose. This time, she also had to wipe a little steam off of her glasses. Then, the girl put on the headset and controls. And she logged into The World…

* * *

A/N

Yea, yea.. It's been a while, but I do have mediocer excuses!! 1) lack of internet for a while, 2) broken laptop upon which I do most of my writing, 3) I'm lazy? (no attacking me, please... The characters already to that enough... seriously! Kite & Tsukasa keep popping out of the computor and beating me with blade & staff!

Anyway, I had a lovely Christmas & New Years, power outages & all. I hope you were doing well, too..

To my Reviewers! ( I know this chapter is short, but the next one will be pretty long... Romance & Action will be present... and maybe schitzophrenia... and revenge and pain and an annoyed Blackrose and little rabbit pink rabbits... ok, so maybe not /all/ of those.. I haven't finished writing it yet, but... yea.. And I will get around to updating my other fics, don't worry!)

Dreamcaster555: Thankies for reviewing again! I have internet at home now and have had it for a couple weeks.. I just kind of didn't post/finish writing this chapter... Um... sorry... -bows shamedly-

Tsukasathefominian: Evil Cliffies rawk! Em... except for yours... I WANNA KNOW WHAT HAPPENS!!! Anyway, it wasn't letting me review your story for some reason... But I did read your most recent chapter... Probably a tainted happy ending... or maybe even a sad ending.. depends on if I'm depressed at the time or what... I haven't finished thinking out the plot yet...

Mack: -blushes- Thankyou!

Minako: Thanks! But your post is hard to read because of the lack of punctuation... Morganna /is/ evil.. ehehe! And she gets worse.. I do feel sorry for Kite & Tsukasa... but after they attacked me, I felt distictly less sympathetic of their plights... Aura's already come in in a distant sort of way, but she'll make an actual appearance somewhere in the next couple chapters, I think... And who said Morganna wasn't going to go after Tsukasa..? The mother of Aura just hasn't had the perfect opportunity yet.. plus, she really is pissed at Tsukasa, so.. poor Amaya/Tsukasa... She might wind up having it worse than Kite... -claps hands over mouth- Oops.. maybe I've spoiled it a little...

Kitedragon: You are welcome for that email! Actually, I don't mind having my mistakes pointed out. It helps... And not everyone is perfect.. Eh.. what happened to Amaya's dad ish explained in this chapter... Actualy, suicidal thoughts wouldn't be crazy for Kite at this time, but.. eh... No, he ain't jumpin' off that there cliff!

Macky: Thanks!

Dragon's Hitokiri: Thank you!


	10. Confessions, Darkness Rising

Fragments of a Shattered Mirror

Disclaimering: I own Bandai & all the .hack enterprise.. In my dreams, that is... Look, I don't technically own any more than copies of the games, manga & some of the anime (as in Liminality & 2 volumes of Dusk)... But the plot and some facets of the characters as I have chosen to portray them belong to my imagination..

Review would be nice once you've read this. If you truly hate it, tell me why... But don't expect me to fix everything that bothers you. Suggestions are always welcome, if not always followed.

_A/N: This is my longest chapter yet. Ten pages in word… Anyway, I had finished the chapter a while ago, but I needed to type it up. Sorry if there are inconsistencies… If so, please alert me to them in your review. I have chapter 10 done, as well.. but I need to type that one up…_

Chapter 9

Tsukasa appeared in Mac Anu amid three golden rings. Remaining only a split second, he warped to the Cathedral of Twilight. Once there, the wavemaster waited outside. He had only to wait a minute or so before Kite warped in. However, Tsukasa was amazed at how much the twin blade had changed. Kite was paler than ever, dark rings beneath his sunken eyes, a strange gauntness to his person not normal and the bracelet was wreathed with darkness. Seeing Tsukasa's wide eyes and compassionate look, Kite ventured a weak smile.

"I'm a sight, aren't I?" he commented, voice low and haggard. "I'm not even supposed to be out of bed. But mother is getting groceries and father won't be back from his trip until late tonight or tomorrow, so I thought I'd use the opportunity to get on."

Tsukasa shook his head. "Your mother's right, though. Sleep is important, especially when you are sick. Giving your body rest helps it to fight infection."

Kite frowned, face growing a littler paler, if possible. "No… no," he said. "Not sleep… Not for this virus." His eyes held shadows of remembered pain. "You don't have the dreams if you're sick with something 'normal.' Amaya, with dreams like that, sleep does more harm than good. I go to sleep.. then the darkness comes followed by dreams… terrible things…" A shudder coursed down his spine. "And pain like you wouldn't believe in my head, a piercing ache about my wrist. Motrin, Advil, Tylenol… whatever the pain killer doesn't do anything to alleviate it. And the fever only gets worse…"

Amaya, both as Tsukasa and simply as herself, knew dreams too well, though the girl's dreams didn't cause sickness or make it worse. No, they were merely dark memories still haunting her nights. Memories of things like her mother's funeral and her father's first drunken rage… things like being data drained. Still, Tsukasa both sympathized and empathized with Kite.

"Don't think about them now… Just calm down and relax," said the wavemaster, putting a hand on Kite's shoulder. He was amazed by the heat he felt emanating from the twin blade. Guiltily, Amaya though it was not an unpleasant feeling. "I know that Morganna puts images, feelings and that sort of thing into your head, but remember, they are just dreams."

"No!" cried Kite. "They are more than dreams! Do dreams leave you aching, leave you in agonizing pain?"

"Yes!" replied Tsukasa, voice quiet, yet emotional. "They can… I should know… You've never been Data Drained, never had your very existence ripped apart only to awaken from the darkness only half there – your mind still lost in the shadows. You have no idea how often I relive that in dreams, nightmares. Then I awaken still felling that pain…"

Kite lifted his head – he'd been staring at the ground – cerulean eyes meeting lavender. He nodded and sighed. "I'm sorry, Amaya… I shouldn't rant at you like that… I forget that you know probably better than anyone what I'm going through…"

Tsukasa's lips curved in a weary smile. "It's all right. We all need to rant sometimes."

The smile then slipped away, replaced by a sad, bitter look, as if at some memory stirred up. Then that look, too, faded back to the apathetic gaze Tsukasa's friends had grown accustomed to over four years before… Kite blinked and tilted his head to the side. Tsukasa sighed and, letting his hand fall from Kite's shoulders, began to walk down the pathway to the great stone building.

"What's the matter, Amaya?"

"… nothing."

"But there is." Kite followed the wavemaster.

"…I'd rather not talk about it."

Tsukasa had reached the doors as did Kite, a moment later. The wavemaster paused, gazing at the ground. Kite put his hand on Tsukasa's shoulder, returning the earlier gesture meant to comfort. Tsukasa looked up at him, then, almost as if he didn't notice what he was doing, the wavemaster took Kite's hand and entered the cathedral, drawing the twin blade after. Once inside, a slight exclamation passed through Tsukasa's lips.

"What?" asked Kite.

"That statue… Aura.. she wasn't there last time I was here…"

Kite shrugged. The statue had been there as long as he could recall, although the first time he saw it, the statue had been bound by eight chains, one for each of the eight phases. Being here did stir up memories. One by one, the chains had been broken as he and his friends defeated the Phases… his friends, especially Blackrose… Akemi…

Kite wasn't sure if he loved her or not. Certainly he had a close friendship and affection for her. After all they'd been through, it made sense… but love? Kite had never actually bet the heavy blade in the real world… The polar opposite of his own personality. Yet opposites attract. But Amaya was altogether different. Kite knew her in the real world, though friends he had been with her only a short time. Yet, the two had a closeness, a familiarity that was uncanny. Was it that Amaya was becoming a replacement of his best friend Orca? Or was it that the two 'clicked?' Or was it perhaps born of mutual suffering? Mutual burdens, though born at different times, placed upon them in order to save the World? Kite truly liked Amaya and was certain that they would be friends for a long time to come… But love? Again he was unsure.

His heart was torn between the two, but it was drifting closer to Amaya. Still there remained a strong leaning for Blackrose. Morganna had exploited that in one of his dreams the night before. But she had yet to attempt to exploit any feelings Kite had for Tsukasa. However, that didn't stop Kite from sensing the remnant of corruption's great wrath against the wavemaster.

Clearing his throat as they walked down the aisle, Kite broke the silence. "So, are you going to tell me what's wrong?"

Tsukasa stopped, releasing Kite's hand and taking a seat in a pew nearby. "Oh, Kite.. everything's wrong. The whole bloody world's a mess. But locally, did you read about the suicide?"

"Yea, but I just saw the picture and the headline," said the twin blade, taking a seat next to Tsukasa.

"That was my god damn father," hissed Tsukasa, tone both dejected and bitter. (A/N Since I don't know any Japanese curses or the Japanese equivalent of "god damn," I'll just leave it as the English)

"It was?! Oh. I'm so sorry, Amaya," stammered Kite, aghast. "I know you don't care for him… but… it must be quite a shock."

Tsukasa nodded. Biting his lip, the wavemaster cried, "You have no idea. How could he, the selfish bastard! Why should he end his wretched existence with only apologies for the way he's fucked up my life! He didn't even /try/ to make things better… Didn't try to make himself better! And now I'm a bloody orphan… Couldn't even bother to think what damage he might inflict with his cowardly, worthless death! I hate him! Damn Yoshi Yamamoto to hell…" Amaya paid no heed to the hot tears welling up in her eyes, dripping beneath the headset and somehow appearing within Tsukasa's eyes as well. (a/n: I start referring to Tsukasa as 'she' a bit after this because Amaya's true feelings & whatnot are being poured out and Tsukasa is merely a 'mask' of sorts she wears… similar but not quite the same as her actual self)

"Don't say that," admonished Kite.

"Why the hell not?" shrieked the wavemaster as the tears threatened to overwhelm her. Blinking rapidly, Tsukasa stared at the ground.

"Because he was your father," said Kite, gently, gazing at Tsukasa. "And you loved him once and still do, or else you wouldn't be so upset."

"What would you know?" demanded Tsukasa, looking sidelong at Kite, then turning away.

Kite reached forward and gently turned her head to face him again. "Trust me," he said. "I know… My mom was the same way when grandma-ma died. Really mad, spouting hateful words about grandma-ma, but she was just grieving. You don't grieve for people you don't love."

Then, suddenly, Tsukasa her intent lavender eyes and began to sob. Now, very much Amaya… lonely, scared, sad Amaya. Almost without realizing it, she leant her head against Kite's warm chest, sobs still wracking her body. Kite hesitated a moment before wrapping his arms around her and patting her back.

"It's ok," he murmured; his voice had not yet acquired the deeper tones gained in adolescence, but it was soothing, calm, a voice of reason. "Go ahead and cry…"

A few minutes passed and gradually Amaya's tears ebbed to a mere sniffling trickle. Kite lifted Tsukasa's head away from his chest and brushed the tears from her cheeks. She hiccupped and a half smile lit Kite's face. Tsukasa, face flushed and miserable, whispered, "Thank you," and leaned forward, hugging Kite.

Unbeknownst to the pair, (but knownst to us) a figure watched them, garnet eyes wide as saucers and mouth agape. With tanned skin, light tattoos, light pink hair and a curvy, yet well muscled body, Blackrose could be considered quite lovely. Now, however, she just looked appalled. What the hell was Kite doing hugging and being so close & cozy with Elk?! … No wait, that wasn't Elk… But who was he, then? Briefly Blackrose debated just leaving, but then Kite caught sight of her a few feet down the aisle.

"B-blackrose!" he stammered, equally shocked.

"What are you doing?" exclaimed the heavy blade, taking a step forward. "Who /is/ that?"

Tsukasa drew away from Kite, looking at Blackrose through eyes still blurred with a faint trickle of tears, bewilderment foremost within. For a moment, the past scene played through her head, adding a little more confusion. Did Kite actually feel that way about her or was he just being comforting? What about Amaya's feelings? Did she feel the same way? She certainly felt an attraction for him, partially born of shared connections to the distant past, sympathy, empathy and shared events in the recent past. But the pair hadn't really know each other well for /that/ long. Still… In this bemused (but sort of happy) state, Tsukasa continued to watch Blackrose.

When neither the wavemaster nor Kite replied right away, a flushed Black rose snapped, "Well? Of all the people… You – you –"

But she couldn't seem to find the right words. The other two continued to stare, then, to the further surprise of Blackrose and Kite, Tsukasa began to laugh. And then she sighed.

"What the hell is so funny?" demanded Blackrose.

"You think I am a guy," stated Tsukasa. "And that Kite and I are gay. That is what is so funny."

"And you are not?"

Tsukasa shook his… er… her head. "No, but my avatar is technically a male wavemaster. Let's just say I preferred the character design to the female wavemasters available."

Blackrose blinked once, then shot an even darker glare at the pair. "Way to lead someone on, Kite! Way to act like one thing then turn around and … Ach!"

Kite rose and gazed at the floor in pain, sighing wearily. Tsukasa, sudden understanding dawning upon her, nodded to herself and rose, going towards Blackrose. The heavy blade pretended that she didn't notice, gazing balefully at Kite.

Tsukasa half bowed and said, "Blackrose, um… May I talk with you outside, please?"

Taken aback, the heavy blade stammered, "Uh.. I… Hey! What do you want? Surely you can say it in front of your boyfriend," she hissed, bitterly.

The wavemaster flushed, looking slightly hurt. "I was going to explain things to you."

"Fine! Do so!"

The wavemaster glanced at Kite, who looked supremely uncomfortable, tired and… in pain? No, that had to be just Tsukasa's imagination, but she /had/ sensed a twinge…

"Well?" Blackrose's demand brought Tsukasa back to the matter at hand.

"Sorry. I was just thinking how to begin. I suppose I ought to start with something Kite probably won't admit even to himself."

"And that is?"

"Umm… Well, his heart is torn in two. On the one hand there is you. He's not quite sure if he loves you or if you are merely a close friend. You two've been through a lot together and have subsequently become close. On the other hand there is me. Kite isn't quite sure how he feels about me other than being a friend. Besides," her voice trailed off a moment. Then with a sigh, she continued, a slight bitter note to her voice, "Is there something so terribly wrong with giving a hug to someone overcome with emotion?"

Blackrose blinked, then looked at Kite. He nodded with a sigh. "Accurate, very much so, Sherlock… Blackrose… I… Augh!"

He suddenly doubled over, clutching his head with a cry of pain. His skull aplit apart, or at least felt like it.

"Kite!" cried Blackrose and Tsukasa at once, each taking a reflexive step towards the twin blade. The wavemaster then closed his eyes, 'feeling' as Morganna rose up within Kite, holding more power than ever. Then the lavender eyes snapped open, worry clouding their depths.

"This is not good," he mumbled.

"What?! What's not good? Kite, what's the matter?" demanded Blackrose.

"No time to explain," said Tsukasa. "Be ready to defend yourself. Kite! Don't let her control you!"

Blackrose gave Tsukasa a blank stare, but it went unnoticed. Kite barely heard the words. Earlier, he'd felt slight twinges, like a probe poking his brain. Foolishly, however, he had ignored them as, it seemed, had Tsukasa. Or maybe Amaya hadn't felt them. Either way, the dark corruption sensed his emotional distraction as well as two of her enemies. Therefore, Morganna took the opportunity to force herself into control. Now, the only thing that could stop her would be either a Kite who had not been worn down or perhaps Aura's power. And that power would be channeled through Tsukasa. Thus would Morganna's plan to bring about the wavemaster's doom would be manifest. A long drawn out doom, if the corruption had her way. But for now, she concentrated on attacking Kite's last mental defenses.

Coming to a halt next to Kite, Tsukasa hesitated a moment, wondering whether to use her staff or hands… Surely Aura's power would work better directly from Tsukasa, right? Therefore, the wavemaster reached forward and grasped Kite's bracelet – now quite visible to Blackrose who, sword drawn, watched with horrified facination.

Tsukasa gasped as an icy chill followed by fire shot through his body. However, he held on, a white light appearing about the bracelet to counter the darkness. Kite felt the pressure of Morganna ebb, but she remained, fighting the light. For a moment, it seemed as though the light was winning and Blackrose could swear she saw a faint, ghostly form of Aura next to Tsukasa. However, the darkness suddenly surged forth, through the bracelet and Kite's mind. Tsukasa gritted his teeth and held on, still attempting to fight it with both Amaya's own and Aura's strength. However, the virus's power continued to expand and Tsukasa cried aloud as he was flung backwards, knocked hard into one of the stone pews.

With an agonized moan, Amaya forced herself, forced Tsukasa to get up, though she knew it was too late to help Kite now. Blackrose, quite confused and unsure what to do, could only stare at Kite as he collapsed against a different pew, a tortured moan escaping his lips. Suddenly, he lifted his head, staring strait at Blackrose, ignoring Tsukasa as he slowly got up and attempted to walk without falling. However, this wasn't Kite. Kite's cerulean eyes were friendly, not icy cold, and his smiles were born of mirth rather than a sadistic delight. Furthermore, his bracelet was invisible, not comprised of black polygons. No, this was Morganna controlling Kite's body.

"K-kite?" ventured Blackrose. "Are you all right now..?"

The twin blade only grinned. Then he stood up and began to walk towards Blackrose. She didn't move, but stared. Akemi's hands shook as they held the controller.

As quick as lightening, Kite leapt forward, twin blades in his hands. He slashed down at Blackrose, who barely lifted her own sword in time to block. As it was, she was thrown off balance, giving Kite the opportunity to wound her, then knock the heavy blade backwards with a well placed kick. Only then, Akemi came to her senses and began to defend herself properly. As she and Kite dueled, she said such things as "Kite, snap out of it," or "What the hell is wrong with you?" But the twin blade didn't respond.

Meanwhile, Tsukasa managed to steady himself on his feet. He then cast a form of 'repth,' healing himself of the damage and ending the dull aches of bruises. The wavemaster now removed his staff from his inventory hand gripping it tightly. Kite and Blackrose were too close together for Tsukasa to cast an offensive spell. And Morganna had undoubtedly ensured that Kite's stats were high enough that ailments would be ineffectual. Besides, Tsukasa wasn't sure that possessed Kite could be defeated by normal means, or, if he could, that it would help the situation. Killing the character might have adverse affects for Kite in the real world. The wavemaster had the dreadful feeling that deleting Kite while he was possessed might even kill Kite in the real world. Besides, killing him might open him up even further to Morganna's influence, thereby destroying any possible way of purging her without harming him.

Tsukasa closed his eyes, concentrating upon that strange linkage between Amaya and Aura, the linkage by which he'd been able to channel the power in the first place. This time, however, he tried to call Aura. Faintly, he felt a response, a gentle warmth, but it faded quickly. Tsukasa tried again, all but oblivious to the battle betwixt Blackrose and Kite. This time, Tsukasa felt a greater reaction. It seemed as if Aura was telling him that she could do nothing, that the corrupt data had somehow found a way to block her from actually coming near, from assisting with all her power. Disappointed and more worried than ever, Tsukasa opened his eyes, watching the battle.

He stepped along the edge of the aisle, making his way closer to the pair. Though neither seemed to be faltering, Tsukasa could tell that Blackrose was loosing. Still, the wavemaster could find no way to intervene or assist without hurting both.

Blackrose knew that she had few hit points left before she would reach "breaking point." She wasn't exactly sure what Kite was trying to do, whether he would data drain her or simply PK her. The heavy blade barely avoided a series of swift cuts and swipes, but she didn't have time to counterattack before Kite leapt at her again. This time she couldn't avoid the combo and was sent a few steps backwards, half collapsing upon the stone floor. Her heart sank when she heard the distinctive shattering sound, though she could not see the blue orb about herself shatter. Akemi found, suddenly, that she could not move.

"No," breathed Tsukasa, realizing what was about to happen. He had seen & heard the breaking of the shield and now that he knew what that meant…

"Kite?!" screamed Blackrose. "Don't! You wouldn't!"

Kite hesitated, the renewed struggle for control of his mind and himself obvious. However, Morganna won over again and he stepped forward, planting his feet firmly and lifting his arm. Yet, there was a regretful look upon his face mingled with a bitter agony. As the bracelet glowed, expanding and activating, the boy managed to force his lips to say, "Forgive… me…"

A spasm of pain crossed his face, then Morganna was completely dominant once more. "Data drain!"

And the bracelet unfolded completely. However, the pain of data draining never reached Blackrose. Tsukasa had darted forward, diving at Kite and grasping the bracelet, dragging it and the bearer to the floor. A scream of agony ripped from the wavemaster's throat as the data drain affected her, instead… sort of, anyway. Because Tsukasa retained the meager protection from the data draining (in other words, he had not been 'protect break'-ed), the attack had not been directed at him, Morganna wished to be spiteful and he was not exactly a normal player, the data drain didn't drain his data, didn't unravel his digital existence, though it would soon result in casting Amaya into a coma. It did cause intense pain like the data draining of the wavemaster's memory. However, it was different for the only purpose (besides tormenting Tsukasa) that it served was stripping aside several barriers and granting Morganna some access to Tsukasa's data and Amaya's mind. With glee, the program probed around, intentionally sending waves of pain through Amaya's skull.. no, Tsukasa's skull.. or was it both?

For the moment, Blackrose went ignored by Kite who, still under the influence of Morganna (xD under the influence…), flung Tsukasa off of him into the side of the pew across the aisle. The wavemaster thudded into the bench, landing collapsed upon the ground with an agonized moan. Different colored sparks of light flickered up, down and around Tsukasa for a few moments, causing or perhaps caused by an odd glow around him.

Shocked, Blackrose only stared for a few moments. Then, it occurred to her that she ought to do something; She could attack Kite while he was distracted, attempt to grab Tsukasa and get out of there, escape alone while she had the change, attempt to distract the possessed Kite and reach who she knew to be the real him or call for help and do any of the aforementioned. A part of her, a great part of her wanted to just flee, but her heart and conscience wouldn't let her. Therefore, certain that help wouldn't arrive in time, she emailed Elk and Mia (they were the only ones listed as online) and stood up.

"Leave him.. er.. her alone!" called the blademaster, stepping towards the twin blade, holding her sword forward. "Kite, if you truly feel for her or me, then you won't hurt her! You can't! Come on! I saw you fighting whatever's wrong with you. Cant' you keep fighting?! Don't you give up, damn it! I can't bare anyone else giving up on me!"

The twin blade, daggers poised, gazing malevolently at the wavemaster – now curled into a semi-conscious twitching ball that occasionally moaned – turned his attention towards Blackrose. He seemed about to attack when a twinge occurred. A struggle wrote itself in his features. Then, dropping the blades, he brought his hands to his head.

Kite said, "No… damn you, leave me the hell alone! Out of my head!!"

He sank to his knees, the fight increasing. "NO!" he yelled at the top of his lungs. He collapsed onto hands and knees, breathing labored and shaky, body aching, wrist and head in pain, but Kite fully in control. A moan escaped his lips as he closed his eyes with a shudder.

"What have I done..? Dear god, what have I done?" (A/N: I am not sure precisely what religion Kite would be, though Shinto seems most likely. Therefore, I'm just putting the English equivalent of the sort of thing he might say. After all, they are Japanese… and direct translations betwixt oriental languages and English are next to impossible)

"Kite..?" queried Blackrose, approaching slowly. "A-are you really you, now?"

The twin blade opened his eyes, looking up at Blackrose. "Blackrose," he whispered. "I…" But he could not find the words to go on.

Blackrose seemed to accept that and she helped Kite to his feet. They both gazed at the now unconscious Tsukasa in silence. Kite took an unsteady step towards the wavemaster.

"What's wrong with her?" asked Blackrose.

"I… I'm not quite sure," murmured Kite. "I think it… might…"

However, he never finished his sentence, for the drain of his energies and emotions caught up to him and the twin blade collapsed. At near enough to the same moment, unnerving Blackrose even more, two other things happened: Tsukasa's eyes flickered open as she gasped, as if the wavemaster was staring at something awful, and Mia and Elk cam running into the chamber. Blackrose knelt next to Kite and called to him, but he did not respond.

"He's tired… Very drained," said Mia, coming to a halt behind the heavy blade. "The strain of… everything has been too much. Kite has collapsed…"

"But what happened?" asked Elk, looking from Kite to Blackrose to Tsuaksa.

"I wish I knew,: said Blackrose, now kneeling next to Tsukasa, attempting to awaken him as well. "Tsukasa, I think, tried to warn me, but there was not time…"

"Morganna, or at least a corrupt remnant of her, resides within Kite's player data and, it seems, has found a way to control him, enter his mind. Following logic, if a player's mind can enter the game as Tsukasa's did once, then why cannot some of the game enter the mind? Because of events in the past, Tsukasa holds a strong bond with Aura and thus he can channel Aura's power with her permission. Using Aura's power to push Morganna from control thereby aiding Kite worked before… But it seems that either Morganna found a way to block Aura's power, or she has grown strong enough to defend against it and possible defeat it. If the latter…" Mia sighed. "A perfect parasite."

"How do you know that?" asked Elk. "Is that what started to happen to Kite last time?"

Mia nodded and murmured, "I know… I can see, hear and feel these things… And Aura told me as much."

Blackrose nodded slowly. "What now? And what can we do?"

"… I think that Morganna may pull Kite entirely inside The World… He will no longer be in the outside part of himself," stated Mia in a worried tone. "Tsukasa may get dragged in, too.. I can't tell.. I'm not sure what happened… Each is fighting within their minds whether they know it or not… Hung in limbo, neither here nor there… yet."

"Y- you mean that th-they are falling into comas?!" exclaimed Blackrose. "No! That can't happen!"

Elk looked shocked, but Mia said nothing for a long moment. Then, "Yes. But let us bring them somewhere else where they may awaken…"

Shocked into a dazed numbness, Blackrose complied without comment. Together, they warped Tsukasa and Kite to Mac Anu, then swiftly to Mia and Elk's favorite field, their warm sunny sanctuary.

"Poor Kite, poor Amaya," murmured Elk.

* * *

Author's Notes & whatnot: 

Names That I Have Given Them So Far:

Kite - Kite Nakahara  
Elk - Hidezki Moro  
Mimiru - Mimiru Kurosawa Blackrose - Akemi  
Tsukasa - Amaya Yamamoto, her father: Yoshi Yamamoto  
Kazu - Kazu  
Subaru - Marie Misono (I felt like giving Subaru the name Marie because it fits her… and there are Japanese people with English names…)

I told you I'd give you guys a longer chapter this time. The whole story, discounting my notes is over sixty pages now. Buahaha..

To My Reviewers:

Steeple333: I think part of your review was deleted somehow. O.o But Sora ish awesome. I just think he deserved to get zapped by Tsukasa.. I think I'll have him pop back in later... Not in the next chapter, but maybe in the 11th one.

Macky: Thank you. I'm continuing, I swear!

Dragon's Hitokiri: Thanks! -pokes you- It's the next chapter...

Dreamcaster555: Whenever I get around to updating my profile, you so get user of the month or whatever! You're so nice about reviewing. Thanks!

Twilight Faerie: Ooh! A new reader! Spiffeh! Thanks!

Hmm.. Not as many reviewers.. where did my other regulars go..?

Anyway.. Next chapter'll come as soon as I work out a couple kinks & get it typed..


	11. To the Hospital, Trapped

Fragments of a Shattered Mirror

Disclaimering: I own Bandai all the .hack enterprise.. In my dreams, that is... Look, I don't technically own any more than copies of the games, manga some of the anime (as in Liminality 2 volumes of Dusk)... But the plot and some facets of the characters as I have chosen to portray them belong to my imagination..

Review would be nice once you've read this. If you truly hate it, tell me why... But don't expect me to fix everything that bothers you. Suggestions are always welcome, if not always followed.

**Chapter 10**

_A/N: Em.. I finally decided what Kite's actual name.. not his nick name.. is. Akira. I did edit the first chapter to say as much, but it doesn't seem to want to reload…So… yea… When you're admitted to the hospital, you must give your full name… Not a nick name, but your full name… For Kite, that would be Akira Nakahara._

Real World

Emi Nakahara, Kite's mother, was just carrying her three plastic bags of food an a jug of milk out of her car and to the apartment building (where the Nakahara family dwelt. Remember that in Japan there isn't a lot of land space and so many people live in apartments.) when she espied Yasuhiko just about to open the door to the flight of stairs to the second apartment – where Kite and his family lived.

"Yasu!" she called out.

The boy, adjusting his backpack, turned. "Oh, hello Mrs. Nakahara. I'm bringing Kite his books and homework. Umm.. Would you like help with those?"

"Yes, that would be much appreciated," replied Emi, gratefully handing over a bag and the milk.

"How is Kite doing? He looked awful yesterday…"

"I'd say he's gotten worse, I'm afraid. I'm taking him to the doctor tomorrow," murmured Mrs. Nakahara.

"Mmm…"

"Did you walk here?"

"Yes. The weather's mild and mother says I could use the exercise."

"Well, you must be feeling better. You were so pale and thin when you woke up! I'm glad to see you doing well. Would you like to join us for dinner? I know Kite will enjoy the company."

"I'd love to! After I see Kite, I'll call my mother and tell her."

Mrs. Nakahara smiled, then paused to unlock the apartment door and open it. Inside, as she and Yasu removed their shoes, she called out, "Kite, honey, I'm home! Yasuhiko's here with your homework."

Receiving no response, Emi sighed. "He's probably sleeping. Why don't you go upstairs and wake him? Just put the groceries on the counter. I'll deal with them."

A couple minutes later, Yasuhiko knocked on Kite's bedroom door.; There was no answer, so the boy pushed the door open, shrugging his backpack off as he did so to use as a door stop. However, what met his eyes was not at all what he expected. Backpack falling from limp fingers, Yasu could only stare for long moments.

Then, rushing forward, he cried in a hoarse voice, "Oh my god! Kite!"

Kite lay as if he'd fallen out of his desk chair, limp upon the floor. A headset still covered his glasses and eyes, though it was knocked somewhat askew. A controller dangled less than an inch from the ground upon its cord. The screen of Kite's computer fizzled with static, but Yasu didn't need any graphics upon the screen to know what his friend had been doing: Playing the World.

Quickly, Yasuhiko felt for a pulse. It was there, slow and not as strong as it should have been. Eyes filled with worry, the boy removed Kite's headset and shook Kite in a vain attempt to wake him. As his fears that Kite would not awake were confirmed, Yasu rose and called to Mrs. Nakahara. His voice cracked and the particular change in pitch would have been hilarious under other circumstances.

-

Maybe an hour later, Mrs. Nakahara and Yasuhiko were at the hospital, the boy taking a seat on one of the waiting chairs (uncomfortable as usual) and Mrs. Nakahara going up to the 'reception' desk to ask where her son had been taken. When the paramedics had arrived, they asked questions that Yasu and Emi did their best to answer. When they had loaded a limp and yielding Kite into the ambulance, they took him directly to the nearest hospital. Mrs. Nakahara, after calling Yasuhiko's parents, took Kite's friend and herself to the hospital as well, though considerably slower. After all, it was rush hour and traffic that made way for an emergency vehicle did not make way for any others.

Mrs. Nakahara cleared her throat and asked, her voice strained with worry, "Miss? My son Akira Nakahara was brought in by ambulance a little while ago.. and… I would like to know where they've taken him… And… Can I go see him?"

"Certainly, ma'am," replied the woman. "I'll call someone to take you. Akira Nakahara? The kid in a coma?" –Emi nodded.- "Ah, yes. They have him in a temporary room until they can run an MRI. Oh, please have a seat; You look as though you are about to collapse," she added with a sympathetic smile.

Emi nodded and, her eyes distant and worried, she did as she was bid, taking a seat next to Yasuhiko. For the longest few minutes of her life (besides the time before her wedding, giving birth to her daughter, who was away in college, and then her son), Mrs. Nakahara waited. And then a nurse clad in light blue, but somehow neat scrubs came over.

"Mrs. Nakahara?"

"Yes..?" she looked up warily. Yasu, too, looked up.

"Follow me, please."

Emi and Yasuhiko immediately rose and followed the nurse, nurse Shinji Suzuki, as her nametag read, through a pair of double doors that marked the boundary between waiting room and the hospital proper. Shinji lead them down the tiled corridor past a row of rooms for 'quick' outpatient care such as stitches or for assessment of injuries of those coming in through the emergency room. They also passed a nurse's station in which one nurse sat drinking coffee and the other wrote something upon clip board.

"Do, do you know what happened to Kite?" asked Emi, voice quavering with anxiety.

"I'm not entirely sure other than that he is in a coma. We'll run an MRI on him tomorrow to rule out any brain damage or a concussion, but…"

"But.. what?" asked Yasu.

"… nothing. Nevermind. He's only down here temporarily for overnight observation. If he doesn't wake up by tomorrow, we'll be moving him to the coma ward…"

Neither Yasu nor Emi asked any more for they had arrived at the room. The door was open and a couple chairs, a bed, IV stand and several monitors were visible. Upon the bed lay Kite, now clothed in a hospital gown (-sarcasm-lucky him…-end sarcasm-), and mostly lying under a blanket. An IV in was his right arm and various sensors affixed here and there, such as the heart rate monitor. An oxygen mask obscured mouth and nose and his long bangs covered his eyes. Those eyes, when open, were not unusual as Japanese eyes went, a dark brown, not quite black, just like his mother's, just like his father's. A nurse was checking something on one of the monitors and occasionally referencing to a piece of paper she held.

The nurse looked up. "Oh, Shinji," she said, her voice bright and cheery. "And.. his mother, I presume? And a friend?" - Yasu nodded – "I was just making sure the sensors were all connected correctly… Just routine thing. Nothing's changed at all. … I'm done now. Doctor Misono will be back shortly." A sigh escaped her lips as she gazed at Kite for a moment. "Poor kid.."

With that the nurse vanished out and down the hallway, off to another room to check on equipment. Shinji nodded to her in passing and stood aside while Emi hurried to her son's side. The mother took her son's hand (left for the left side of the bed faced the door), holding it tightly. It occurred to her that she had left his glasses at home upon the floor where they had fallen, but… It didn't matter now.

Yasu stood at the foot of the bed, gazing at his friend with troubled eyes. Was it possible that the Twilight Incident was repeating itself, ironically picking the very one responsible for ending as its first new victim? Definitely possible, but Yasu hoped that wasn't the answer. Maybe whatever illness Kite had contracted had something to do with it?

Shinji murmured that she must attend to her duties, but that she'd check up in a little while. Then the nurse left, scrubs swishing as she moved. Several minutes passed and then Doctor Misono entered.

"Emi Nakahara?" he asked, startling the woman a little. "Mother of Akira Nakahara?" The doctor only knew the names because he was looking at a sheet clipped to a clipboard that held the necessary information. The doctor had removed it from its holder on the wall when he had entered. "I'm Doctor Misono." He held his hand out to Yasuhiko.

The boy took his and mumbled, "Yasuhiko Nishimura, Kite's friend."

At the same time, Emi nodded mutely and turned from her son to the doctor, reluctant to leave her child's side. The doctor proffered his hand to her and she shook it.

"Well, you can see that he's unconscious and has been since he was brought in. Shinji explained to you that he is in a coma. We won't know until tomorrow if it is something to do with the brain… But.. It doesn't seem like it. Except for the fact that he won't wake up, I'd say that, other than an elevated temperature, low pulse and extreme pallor, he would be in excellent health," said the doctor. "Hmm… I do hope that we find what is wrong with him, though… and that this isn't like what happened months ago," he added almost to soft to be heard.

However, both Yasuhiko and Emi heard him and paled. The woman asked, "You mean the ones who fell into comas for no apparent reason..?" She glanced at Yasuhiko. "It isn't that, is it? Is it!"

"It can't be!" exclaimed Yasuhiko, looking considerably disturbed.

Doctor Misono sighed wearily. "I do not know. I remember those two, if they are who I think you are talking about. You, my boy, and an Amaya Yamamoto, if I remember rightly. This case does have striking similarities…"

"But," said Yasu. "The reason I fell into a coma was because of stuff in the World. I think Kite was playing it when he fell unconscious, but the same thing can't possibly be happening again!"

Dr. Misono was about to say more when a nurse, not one they had yet seen, popped in and said, "Doctor? We have another one like this kid who was just brought in… I think she's been here before for the same reason…"

"Hmm..? Her name..? What room are they taking her to?"

"Yamamoto… Don't remember her first name. They'll be taking her to the room next door once they've finished with preliminary tests. I just thought I'd let you know, sir."

"Thank you, Keiko."

Another weary sigh escaped Misono's lips as he breathed, "Please don't let this be starting again…"

"Forgive me, Mrs. Nakahara, Yasuhiko but I will have to see to the other patient, now."

He half bowed and left. Kite's mother and friend stared after him, eyes wide and horror-filled. Then Emi pulled a chair next to her son's bed and sat down. She knew she ought to call her husband and then her daughter away in college, but… she couldn't leave Kite yet. "Yasu? Would you like to call your parents and have them pick you up? I think I'll be here a while… and you have homework and…"

"Yes… I left my phone in my backpack at your house, though."

"Oh." Emi fished her key chain out of her pocket and removed one key. Then she retrieved her phone from her pocket. "Go to the lobby and call them and take the spare key…"

"Thankyou, Mrs. Nakahara."

-

The World

Tsukasa awoke later that night and wished he hadn't. He felt sick and his head pounded; It felt as though someone had run over him with a steamroller, then thudded his head with a sledge hammer. Every muscle ached. _So this is what a hangover is supposed to feel like. Except that with a hangover you were drunk hours earlier… But I didn't drink anything.. What was I doing, then..?_

With a low moan, Tsukasa rolled over onto his side, curling himself into a ball. However, he started when, opening his eyes a little, he espied a red clothed twin blade sitting a couple feet away, knees tucked to his chest. Kite… that was his name. The twin blade was looking at the wavemaster with a worried, depressed kind of expression. Tsukasa closed his eyes again, now not even trying to recollect anything else. His head hurt too much for that.

Kite heard Tsukasa moan and saw the wavemaster roll to one side, curling into a ball. The twin blade watched curiously to see if Tsukasa would actually wake up or was merely turning in a dream. The wavemaster's violet eyes, however, opened, staring blankly at Kite. Then recognition dawned and Tsukasa closed his eyes again. Kite sighed, turning his cerulean gaze back to the horizon… The digital horizon… but it seemed so real!

The gentle breeze that rolled through the field at times, the scent of the distant flowers, the sight of the stars dotting the sky from the moment he awoke an hour ago – it as was all too real to Kite. He knew without trying that he wouldn't be able to log out, knew that it would be same for Tsukasa.

A sudden idea occurred to Kite. He looked back at Tsukasa, the other's face a picture of misery and pain… and that was all Kite's fault. However, he would try and make what amends he could, starting with this. He held his hand palm outwards over Tsukasa and murmured the words, "Pha Repth."

A rainbow white light surrounded Tsukasa and immediately the throbbing hurt lessened then vanished. He still felt like death warmed up, but at least he was no longer in pain. The wavemaster opened his eyes, blinking blearily at Kite. Tsukasa continued to feel a little sick, but he trusted his stomach not to heave if he spoke.

"Thank you," was all he murmured.

"It was nothing," replied Kite mournfully. "You have no reason to be grateful to me.. Hell, you have every reason to hate me."

"No.. Not you. Morganna," said Tsukasa as memory flooded back.

He sat up slowly and gazed at Kite, who was staring at the horizon again.

"Be that as it may," replied the twin blade, voice bitter, anguished. "She used me… And thus it was by my hand… If I'd been stronger… If I'd been able to resist…"

"Then you would have had a longer period of her messing with your dreams and your head and maybe when she did gain control, you wouldn't have been able to throw her off," said Tsukasa. "But letting yourself feel that way is exactly what she wants. By feeling guilty for her doing, you are only playing into her hands… I don't want to be here, damn it, I never wanted to be trapped again. But…"

"But what?"

"At least Blackrose isn't data drained… Neither was I, exactly, and.. well.. at least you aren't alone in your captivity within the World."

A sad, half smile touched Kite's lips, but not his eyes. The smile disappeared quickly and the twin blade sighed, looking in the distance again.

"Speaking of which," added Tsukasa as an afterthought. "How did we wind up here in the first place?"

"Blackrose, Elk and Mia brought us here."

"Where are they now?"

"Blackrose said that Mia comes every now and again. Elk apparently had to leave because his mother made him get off to go to bed. Blackrose's own mother yelled at her to get off the computer a while ago.. Shortly after I awoke, actually. I could hear her through Blackrose's headset. Anyway, before she left, she said a friend of yours dropped by maybe an hour after they brought us here. I think it was Mimiru. Apparently Mimiru was rather shocked and worried. She left supposedly to call you…"

Tsukasa nodded. "I see… I wonder if I'll have to make up the calc test we were supposed to take tomorrow…"

Kite goggled at her. "You're worried about a math test!"

The wavemaster burst out laughing. "No. I was just … Actually, I don't know why I said that…"

Kite blinked, then joined in the laughter. When they ceased, Tsukasa sighed and leaned his head against Kite's shoulder. Slightly surprised, Kite hesitated a moment before draping his arm across Tsukasa's shoulder. It was only then that he realized Tsukasa was still half laughing, and yet half crying.

(a/n: When I'm referring to Tsukasa as 'he' this sounds a lot like slash.. aaaah!)

* * *

Author's Noterlies 

So I was going to add more, but then I realized that this chapter was long enough and that y'all would rather me update faster than have me have uber long chapters. Eh.. Maybe. Ah well... Here is thy chapter!

By the way, I change my username. The reason is explained upon my userlookup.

Reviewers: Hey! I didn't take as long to update. Aren't you proud of me?

Steeple333: I emailed you, I believe. Thanks for reading this.

Dragon's Hitokiri-ish pokebacked- YES I MUST POKE... arg-pokes you- Thanks!

Macky: Thankyou.

Minako-gasp- How could you loose a story-mock horror- It's ok! Power of love? Ah, a cliche! Maybe.. Maybe not.. I certainly am not revealing. Besides, I change the story all the time.. So if I told you one thing, chances are, something completely different would happen.

MoonlightAwakening-grin- I did try to make Elk 'Elkish.' Glad you like 'im. I always pictured him as a geeky smart kid who gets beaten up at school and doesn't have the greatest homelife... And has only a single parent, his mother.. Dunno why. O.o Well.. -blush- Thankies!

Twilight: I am pretty sure I emailed you, too.. Ah well... -shies away from ninjas- You can't send them after me now! I've updated! And Orca is in this chappie. Happy-dangles Balmung by the wings over the Sarlack pit from Star Wars: Return of the Jedi- Buahaha! If you send your ninjas after me, Balmung gets it! Piros-wipes sweat off brow- Me: Don't worry, axeman.. I'll get you, you freaky game designer who I swear is gay.

To anyone and/or everyone who read my fic but didn't review - REVIEW!


	12. At the Hospital, Conversations

Fragments of a Shattered Mirror

Disclaimering: I own Bandai all the .hack enterprise.. In my dreams, that is... Look, I don't technically own any more than copies of the games, manga some of the anime (as in Liminality 2 volumes of Dusk)... But the plot and some facets of the characters as I have chosen to portray them belong to my imagination..

Review would be nice once you've read this. If you truly hate it, tell me why... But don't expect me to fix everything that bothers you. Suggestions are always welcome, if not always followed.

Note: For now, I'm referring to Tsukasa as 'she' especially because the way she is right now is a combination of her two selfs, but the "Amaya" part of her is more forward at the moment. Ack.. I don't know if you got that, but ok...

* * *

**Chapter 11**

_The World_**  
**

Tsukasa continued to half laugh and cry as she leaned against Kite, though he was silent. However, as she subsided into mere weeping, Kite squeezed her shoulder gently and murmured, "Amaya.. I'm really sorry for getting you into all of this. Dry your tears… As you told me, we'll find a way out, somehow…"

He tried to sound comforting, though he only half believed his own words, if that. Still the words had some effect. Tsukasa looked at Kite, a sad, wan smile upon her tear-streaked face.

"If only we had some idea of what to do," she murmured, mirthless smile fading. "But don't apologize. It's just that… well, I don't know. Like in the cathedral, held back feelings are leaking out in rather wet fashion."

She sighed, sniffled, and wiped her tears aside with her sleeve. Somehow, the wavemaster managed to prevent herself from crying again.

Kite nodded. "I think I understand… aarg!"

The twin blade jerked away from Tsukasa, clutching at his head. A look of deep concern and fear filled the wavemaster's face. However, after a few moments, the twisted expression of pain left Kite's face to be replaced by one of confusion.

"Kite?" asked Tsukasa.

The twin blade looked at her. "She pressed forward so suddenly, but she didn't try to assert control… Just probed and left…"

"Odd." Tsukasa blinked. "I wonder what she's planning…"

Kite shook his head. "I don't know."

* * *

_Hospital_

Yasuhiko was returning to Kite's room to return the cell phone to Mrs. Nakahara when he passed Amaya's room. Pausing outside the doorway, he debated going in. It wasn't like he really knew the girl, but he might as well see her. After all, Amaya was a girl at his school, a veritable genius as far as he was concerned, and he recalled that she had been in a coma for several weeks, maybe a month, but had come out of it about six months before he fell into one to begin with. Thus, he didn't think her original coma was because of the World. She didn't even play the game, did she?

From the angle he was at, Yasu couldn't see more than the foot of the bed. Curiosity pulled him into the room and it was only then that he realized there was another girl in there, sitting in a chair and gazing at Amaya with a mixed expression of perplexity and sorrow. However, at Yasuhiko's entrance, she turned her eyes to him. Nevertheless, Yasuhiko didn't really look at her for a moment, instead glancing at Amaya's unconscious form. It surprised him how different she looked without her glasses and with her hair down. She actually looked… pretty. Pretty and sad, even though her face was expressionless and was partially obscured by an oxygen mask. Like Akira, she wore a hospital gown and had various sensors and equipment hooked up.

"Hello?" The other girl seated in the chair frowned, then asked, "Who are you?"

"Hmm? Oh, sorry," replied Yasuhiko, turning back to her. "I'm Yasuhiko. Amaya's a classmate of mine, so I thought I'd look in on my way to a friend's room. Who are you?"

"I'm Mimiru, a _friend_ of Amaya's. Your friend, was he or she just brought in? Because this is a temporary ward…"

"Yeah. He's next door, as a matter of fact. His name's Kite. Well, actually, it's Akira, but everyone calls him Kite. He and I and Amaya all have history together. Hey, didn't Amaya fall into a coma nine or ten months ago?"

A flash of recognition filled Mimiru's eyes upon hearing Kite's name. "Yeah, Amaya did… This Kite, does he play the World?"

A chuckle escaped Yasu's lips. "I should think so… How else do you think one of the so called 'dot-hackers' did what they did?" However, the slight mirth in Yasu's voice and face died. "Actually, I'm the one who introduced him to it before… uh… never mind."

"I see. I've met him the World a few times, twice in two different dungeons and a few times trading. He's often hanging around with this girl Black.. uh.. Blackrose, I think. I swear she copied my character design! Ah well, before what, by the way?"

Yasuhiko sighed. "Before I fell into a coma," he murmured.

"Because of the World?"

"Well, because of Morganna, at any rate. So, yes."

"Then you'd believe me if I said Kite is within the World right now along with Amaya, who goes by Tsukasa there? That is, by the way, where she was when she was in a coma before."

"That's what I feared when I found Kite passed out next to his computer, headset still on over his glasses."

"Yeah. But I found out 'cause Sora told me where to find them. And so I went there because Tsukasa wasn't replying to my emails and Amaya hadn't answered the phone when I called her… If not for that, I don't think any of us would have realized she was trapped in the World again… at least not for a while… How long would she have just lain there?"

"Huh? Wait, so how did you get her here anyway? Didn't her parents find her or something?"

A mirthless chuckle escaped Mimiru's lips. "What parents? Her mom died when she was little and after that, I think her dad ignored her or abused her or something. I do know that he was alcoholic. According to Bear – a friend of mine and Amaya's - the guy offed himself this morning, jumped in front of a subway."

Yasu's eyes opened quite wide. "God… That's awful! I never knew… never realized.. so that's why… Didn't she ever call the police or anything? Didn't you?"

"Amaya never did. Maybe she was too scared or something, but it's really hard to get her to open up anyway, so maybe she just didn't want to burden others? Anyway, due to some things her father did while she was in a coma before, the police conducted an investigation, but nothing came of it. A few beer bottles don't prove anything. They didn't do much investigation, actually. They didn't seem to care… At least now, though, when she wakes up, she won't have him to deal with."

Neither Yasu nor Mimiru knew why she was telling him this. Nevertheless, Yasu listened with a growing understanding of just why Amaya was so introverted and why she strived so hard at academics.

"Kite's family is pretty together. His sister's at college somewhere and his dad's often away on business trips. And, though my family's moving soon, we all get along, but… god… No wonder she's always so sad and lonely… I mean, if my family was like that, I'd… I don't know what I'd do, actually."

Mimiru nodded. "Me neither. I live alone with mom, but… Say, do you want to meet me online later and we can go find them?"

Yasuhiko considered a moment. "Maybe. I'm only allowed to be on an hour, and I want to get on as soon as get home. How long will you be here?"

"As long as it takes mother to get things sorted out. What's your username? Mine's my name, Mimiru."

"Orca."

"Not Orca of the Azure Sea?"

"Heh. That's me."

Mimiru giggled.

"What's so funny?"

"I thought that Orca and Balmung would be really nerdy looking in real life. Although, I have yet to meet Balmung."

Yasuhiko rolled his eyes. "I have to return this phone to Mrs. Nakahara. Mom and or Dad should be here soon, so I can go get my backpack from Kite's house and then go home. See you later, I suppose? Where should we meet, by the way?"

Still giggling, Mimiru nodded, "Mac Anu? See you!"

And with that, Yasuhiko left the room with a half bow.

* * *

_Yasu's Home_

The moment he arrived home, Yasuhiko went to his room, dumped his backpack on the floor, and flicked on the computer. It didn't take long to start up, and within minutes, he had inserted the disk and donned his headset. A few clicks of the buttons and the entering of his username (Orca) and his password (a3z1u4r1e5s9e2a) and another keystroke later, he was logged in.

_

* * *

The World_

"Ought we to go somewhere else, maybe? Or do you think we should wait for Blackrose or Mia or someone to come here?" asked Tsukasa.

"Hmm… Well, when you were trapped here before, was there a way you could contact people without actually talking to them?"

"Yea… I could send and read flash mail... why?"

"Well, if we were to leave, then we could tell the others where we were if we needed to. So, why don't we go wander around someplace else?"

Tsukasa sighed. "I suppose. That's what I did when I was here… Just wander around and attack those tear drop things that come out of Springs of Mist."

"Why'd you attack them? They can upgrade your stuff."

Tsukasa grinned and stood up. "Because they have the most annoying voices! They give me a head ache."

"Look who's talking," said Kite, grinning and standing as well.

"Hey! That's not very nice…" Tsukasa glared at Kite and lifted her staff as if to hit him.

Kite leapt away. "Oh no! You aren't hitting me! My sister does that enough when I bug her, thank you very much."

"You have a sister? How old is she?"

"Naomi is in college. She's a sophomore. She'll turn twenty soon."

"Will she come home for her birthday?"

"For the weekend. Though you'll never catch me saying this to her, I do miss her when she's gone."

"Hmm… I don't have any siblings. I would have had one, maybe two brothers, but mother miscarried both before and after I was born. Ah well…" She sighed softly. "So, where shall we go?"

Kite looked thoughtful. "Well, someplace that is no longer infected and that isn't too high a level. I don't know about you, but if I can feel things here, I don't relish fighting something difficult."

"No… Especially things that use spells," agreed Tsukasa. Suddenly, she paused, frowning. "I wonder…"

"What?"

"There is a place within the World where Aura slept… It's not accessible by any normal means, but maybe I can still get us there… If it still exists, that is."

"Is it in the bottom of a dungeon somewhere?"

"Yes and no. I first went there through a portal opened behind a Ghott stature in a dungeon, but the portal was only temporary. I don't think it exists within the game's parameters. Well, the parameters CC Corp gives it, anyway."

"How do you get there? If it involves gate hacking, then please no! Using the bracelet might.. well.. you know."

"No… But it was Morganna who gave me the power to go there in the first place, so I don't know if I'll be able to."

"So… You still haven't said how to get there."

"Warp without using a chaos gate. That's how."

"And how do you do that?"

Tsukasa smiled. "I can't really say… Hackers like Helba do it by hacking, but I just… went. Shall we try?"

Kite was about to answer when the noise accompanying teleportation was heard nearby and a deepish male voice called out, "Kite!"

* * *

Author's Corner! Muahahah! 

Cliffie sort of ending. Aren't I just evil? Buahaha! Sorry about the delay in updating... As with other chapters, I rewrote portions of this. Anyway, onto the reviewers!

Reviewers:

_Windchaser90:_ Thanks for reviewing! Is this long enough for you? I, too, wanted Kite to get stuck in the World and, welp... Lookie here! He's stuck!

_Twilight_: Nope. I'm not puttin' Balmung down! Actually, data draining him would be fun! Buahaha.. NO! Piros will not be in this fiction at all, if I can help it. Wait, am I the overacheiver or is TSukasa? Actually, both of us are over acheivers! Buahahah... Well, sometimes I am, anyway... Not with World History, I can assure you, though. Ah, so that explains the dark cardboard shape in my closet.

_Steeple333_: Is Blackrose's name really Akira? xD That's a guys name, I thought..And I named Kite that. Ahahaha.. that's hilarious.

_Dragon's Hitokiri:_ Buahaha-ish poked and pokes back- Poking War! Thanks for reviewing!

_Dreamcaster555_: You'll find out what will happen soon enough! Right now, things are just building to the climax.

_Theatre-Sama: _Thankyou very much-gives you a Skeith plushie because... Skeith has a really spiffeh wand-

_Spirit Alleron:_ Woot! I just read your review for the first time today. Thanks for reviewin'! Kite may or may not be ok and he may or may not (but more likely 'may') have romance with Amaya, although nothing above a PG to PG-13 level. You'll have to wait and see!


	13. Explaining, Beginnings of Something Bad

**Fragments of a Shattered Mirror**

Disclaimering: I own Bandai all the .hack enterprise.. In my dreams, that is... Look, I don't technically own any more than copies of the games, manga, some of the anime (as in Liminality and 2 volumes of Dusk)... But the plot and some facets of the characters as I have chosen to portray them belong to my imagination..

Review would be nice once you've read this. If you truly hate it, tell me why... But don't expect me to fix everything that bothers you. Suggestions are always welcome, if not always followed.

Note: There is blood spilt in this chapter! Readers be warned!

This isn't the climax chapter, but the climax will be coming in the next one or two chapters. Enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 12**

Twin blade and wavemaster turned to face this newcomer. To Kite's surprise, it was Orca. The blademaster all but ran over to them, looking worried and yet somewhat relieved. He looked hard at Kite for a moment, then turned his eyes to Tsukasa.

Orca murmured, "You must be Tsukasa, then." The blademaster then turned back to Kite and offered a wan smile. "We're even now… Or at least part of my debt to you is repaid… Or will be."

Kite blinked. "What? Yasu, what are you talking about?"

"You know what I'm talking about. Besides, I found you out cold next to your desk. You want to explain what happened, Nakahara Akira? Your mom's worried sick about you and, frankly, so am I! I thought you just had the flu or something, but obviously I was wrong… So, are you going to tell me?"

Kite sighed. "Might I ask what you were doing at my home, though? And how did you know where to find me here? I'll tell you what's going on if you answer those questions."

Tsukasa just watched and listened, wondering if she was still lying limp by her computer or if Mimiru or Bear or anyone, actually, had taken her to the hospital.

"I was bringing you your homework, stupid. Hey! I could down load it, make a mod of it and make you do it anyway," said Orca, grinning as Kite hastily shook his head. "And I knew where to find you two because a girl named Mimiru told me after I stepped into your" – he looked at Tsukasa – "hospital room. So, Amaya Yamamoto, I'm Yasuhiko.. Uh.. How long have you played the World, anyway?"

Tsukasa blinked. "Wha? Oh. I have history with you, don't I? I started playing about a year ago. But you say you met Mimiru? Was there a man with her, middle aged with brown hair, glasses and a bald spot?"

"Uh, no. She was just there with her mom. Why?"

"Well, I suppose Bear'll hear about this from Mimiru and that means Subaru will find out. Sora probably already knows, the little twerp, and he'll tell BT and Crim. Lovely," murmured the wavemaster, sounding neither pleased nor exceptionally annoyed. All right, she was somewhat unhappy, but there was something comforting in knowing that you had friends who cared. "Yay for nosy friends."

She then spoke louder, looking at Orca again. "What exactly did Mimiru tell you?"

Orca thought a moment. "Other than who she was and that she was a friend of yours? Well… Um… She told me about your home life… and about your dad jumping in front of a subway. Look, Amaya! I'm really sorry!"

Tsukasa let out an irritated and yet depressed sigh. "Stupid blabbermouth. Just forget what she told you, Orca of the Azure Sea. I don't need everyone pitying me or butting in on my life."

Orca and Kite looked at her in silence for a moment or two. Then Orca spoke.

"Amaya," he said. "You can't deal with life alone. Besides, once you wake up, where will you go?"

"… I don't know. Back to my house, I suppose…"

"But how will you live? You don't have a job or anything…"

Tsukasa sighed. "I know, I know… It's just that every time someone finds out about my life, they always think they know what to do… that they know why my life ought to be like and that they must do something to rectify it. I have something worked out with a man who is my friend for boarding school or possibly college next year. I just have to finish off this year."

Orca nodded. "I see, I think…" He looked at Kite. "So, are either of you going to tell me what's going on?"

Kite smiled grimly. "I'll tell you… what I know, at least… You remember how I felt and looked like death warmed up earlier this week?"

Orca nodded.

"Well, the evening before that, I received an anonymous email. It seemed like one Aura would send and it directed me to go to Delta: Bursting Passed Over Aquafield. So, I went there and…"

Kite relayed the event to Orca - what the twin blade could remember, at any rate. "My memory goes blank after that until I woke up on my desk at, like, 2 A.M. The next day, as you know, I was pretty sick and had a fever."

The twin blade then told of his dreams and of going with Elk to rescue Mia. Kite next told of returning and meeting Tsukasa before the strange presence within him that was Morganna attempted to take control. Kite fell silent with a shiver and Tsukasa jumped in, telling of her strange connection to Aura that allowed for channeling of her power and of using it to drive Morganna away. She then spoke of, along with Elk and Mia, bringing Kite to a quiet filed like the one they were in at present, and discovering they knew each other in real life, among other things. Kite then spoke of his further dreams and of talking with Tsukasa in the cathedral realm, Blackrose's arrival and of attempting and failing to suppress Morganna.

Finally Kite, shivering and gazing at the ground, murmured, "And I fought Blackrose. I know it was Morganna controlling my movements, but they were still mine. I could feel my muscles move, see, hear and feel all that went on… And then I almost data drained her. I could stop myself! But Tsukasa did something… A flying tackle, if I remember rightly, and it stopped me, but some of the data drain got her and thus she's here… Somehow, though, with the help of Blackrose, I managed to get the better of Morganna.. for now… Then I fell unconscious and woke up here a little over an hour ago."

"I think Blackrose, Mia and Elk brought us here," said Tsukasa. "And Mimiru must've come by, or Sora, and he told her… But that's the story."

Orca was, to put it simply, stupefied. He stared at Kite and Tsukasa. "I knew it was something bad, but I didn't expect that at all. Oh my god, how can a computer program do that?"

The other two shrugged and the wavemaster said, "If Morganna can drag one's mind into the World entirely, why can't she also move out?"

Orca was silent. A few moments later, he opened his mouth to speak when he was interrupted by a cry from Kite. The twin blade lurched forward, clutching his head and groaning softly. Tsukasa looked on worriedly, seeing the bracelet pulse and feeling the "spike" of Morganna's control.

"Kite?" queried Orca.

The pain in Kite's head was gone after a moment, and, rubbing his wrist, the boy straitened, gazing morosely at the ground. He exchanged a glance with Tsukasa, then flashed a wan, false smile towards Orca. However, the blade master had no time to reply before another warped into the field. Immediately, the newcomer espied them and cried out as she ran over.

"Tsukasa! Orca! Kite!" Mimiru half tackled Tsukasa in a hug. "Amaya, you have me so worried!"

Tsukasa blinked and sighed, gazing at the ground. "Hi, Mimiru. You don't have to worry about me."

"But I do! You're my friend. Anyway, since I live closest to you, Marie and Mr. Sakuma wouldn't forgive me if I didn't know how you were doing or if I didn't check up on you and give them a report."

"_Must_ you tell them?"

"Of course! Besides, if I didn't, Sora would."

Tsukasa made a face. "Better you than him. So… You took me to the hospital?"

Mimiru nodded. "Yeah. And I must say that it's a dreadful thing to break into someone's house only to find them unconscious in their room. For a bit, though, Mom and I almost thought Bear was wrong because your dad's car was in the driveway…"

"Ah, so that's how you found out. Mr. Sakuma."

Mimiru nodded again.

"Hm. That aside, thanks."

Orca broke in. "Now then, Kite, Tsukasa, what will you… Kite? Kite!"

The twin blade's eyes were closed, face set grimly against pain while his left hand gripped his right wrist tightly. He didn't seem to hear his friend. More disturbing, to Orca at least, was that fact that Orca and Mimiru could actually see the bracelet. It was a ring of blue polygons, each tainted by a shadow. Tsukasa, however, saw more than that; she saw a darkness clinging to Kite and she sensed the rising of Morganna. The wavemaster was about to make an attempt to help Kite when Morganna's presence abruptly faded, then vanished altogether. Only then did Kit relax and open his eyes, rubbing his wrist. He glanced down at the bracelet, then looked at Tsukasa.

"Same as before?" she questioned.

Kite nodded.

"Wh – What happened?" asked Mimiru.

Neither Kite nor Tsukasa answered. The wavemaster did shake her head and murmur, "This is not good… Not good at all. Was there any hint of what she's trying to do?"

"No." Kite shivered. "But she seems entirely too pleased."

"Who?" demanded Mimiru.

"Morganna, I think," said Orca.

Mimiru's eyes widened. "The hell? She's still here? You mean she didn't get deleted!"

However, yet again they were interrupted by one arriving. This time it was Balmung. The white knight nodded to Orca, then turned to Kite. Mimiru blinked at him in confusion and surprise, then muttered something to herself.

"Kite," said Balmung. "Orca and Blackrose emailed me that you were in a coma… yet here you are." He paused, quirking a look at Orca. "Would you mind telling me what's going on?"

"Yeah!" said Mimiru. "What _is_ going on? You still haven't told me, Amaya!"

With weary sighs, Kite and Tsukasa exchanged a look, then told their story again. Or, at least, they told most of it. When they reached the point of waking up in the field, a sudden gasp left Kite's lips. His eyes first widened, then squeezed shut as agony ripped through his head and then his body. It felt as though he was being spliced in two. He did not hear the anxious cries of Tsukasa, Orca, Balmung or Mimiru. Instead, the boy heard the gleeful voice of Morganna.

She laughed and said, "You're in my world now, boy, and my power Is more than yours. Your shields are gone. Revenge is sweet. Watch your friends die and curse in vain."

"Kite! Fight her," shouted Tsukasa, though she was certain Kite did not hear.

Hesitantly, only after a few seconds, she and Orca moved forward towards Kite. However, an invisible barrier had formed around the twin blade, preventing them from reaching him. Tsukasa was flung back.. into Orca, as a matter of fact. He helped her to her feet. Suddenly, bright, though tainted, light enveloped Kite for a brief moment, spreading from the bracelet. Then, to the surprise and horror of those watching, two Kite's were there, similar yet very different.

One was darker in appearance, or at least his bright clothing was, and his eyes were black. The other was indeed the actual Kite, unchanged. Both bore the polygonal bracelets, which now glowed visible, although the former's was entirely black. Though Orca, Balmung and Mimiru merely saw all this, Tsukasa saw more. She saw, or rather sensed, the pure corruption emanating from the darker Kite. She also felt and almost could see a twisted thread connecting the two.

The dark one's lips were curled into a sneer as he held Kite by his throat. Kite gripped the dark one's wrist, face twisted into a grimace as the other tightened his grip. The bracelets flickered with the contest of wills.

"Pathetic," hissed the dark one in a voice that was two voices; one was a deep feminine voice, Morganna's, and the other was a twisted version of Kite's own. "To think you once caused me so much trouble."

The dark one flung the other aside with great force, propelling him into Orca and knocking the two backwards. Orca mumbled something about how he was NOT a target or a pillow and Kite mumbled an apology and quickly got up, though he swayed a little on his feet, nearly collapsing again. Orca got up and offered a steadying hand.

Morganna's eyes traveled to Tsukasa. "You, too… You've thwarted me your last time. All of you have!"

Dark glowing orbs appeared in Morganna's hands, crackling with energy. "I'll repeat myself: Pathetic. Ah well; Let the fun begin!"

The orbs vanished, leaving being two daggers. Well, one assumes they were daggers like a normal twin blade's. These, however, were unlike any other twin blade weapon. They were crimson and modeled like miniature Skeith's staves. The circle became the guard piece for the hilt and the long shaft became the blade, wickedly pointed and very sharp along the edges. Then, the dark one lunged forward, leaping towards Tsukasa. Balmung, however, stepped in between, blocking Morganna's blades with his own. In a flash, the two were dueling, and it was an amazing display of skill. Both combatants moved with grace and speed, seeming equally matched. Despite his innate greater speed, the dark one struggled to avoid being hit, although it seemed he was taunting Balmung, intentionally leaving openings in his defense.

While the two fought ( with Mimiru staring in awe ), Tsukasa spoke: "Kite, are you O.K.? What happened?"

Kite shook his head, rubbing his wrist around the bracelet and looking at the two fighting. "That should be me fighting her, not Balmung."

His own blades appeared in his hands and, with a nod at Orca – who also held his blade in readiness – Kite ran forward, ready to leap into the fray. Orca followed. Tsukasa stayed behind, staff held in the ready in case they needed healing. The need came sooner than she expected, though, for Kite never made it to his counterpart. Instead, he cried out and stumbled, half collapsing as he clutched his side. To the horror of his friends, dark, warm blood welled beneath the boy's fingers, staining his shirt, vest and gloves. Teeth clenched against the pain, Kite stumbled to his feet, glaring at his dark replica.

Speaking of which, the dark one was laughing and looking down at his own side. A tear was visible in the cloth of his shirt, and beneath it there was a long thin gash delivered by Balmung's sword. That wound seemed to cause him no pain whatsoever. Balmung was, due to his friend's pain, though, unwilling to attack again. Therefore, he healed himself. He'd sustained a few injuries. Minor ones and they couldn't be seen on his own avatar, proof he was a 'normal' player.

Tsukasa quickly cast a healing spell upon Kite. As the spell took effect, the identical wounds on both twin blades repaired themselves. The blood didn't fade, but it dried quickly in the breezy air of the field. The dark one glanced down at his own now closed wound and chuckled. And then the dark one and Balmung were dueling again. Kite picked up the blade he'd dropped and, accompanied by Orca, joined the battle. They made little headway, though, for the dark one's speed seemed to double. He chipped away (rather big chips, actually) at Orca and Balmung's health, though Tsukasa repeatedly healed them, but he avoided attacking Kite.

"Balmung, Orca," he said in between strikes, parries and counterstrikes. "Let me do this myself. This is my battle… I don't want you guys getting hurt."

Balmung gave his friend one those 'looks' through clashing blades. "I'm still not entirely clear on what is going on, but you aren't fighting alone!"

Suddenly, the dark one leapt back, away from the trio, smirking that annoying, evil smirk. "This could go on for some time, seeing as how we're matched well. So, would you prefer to get this done quickly?"

"Does it matter?" squeaked Mimiru.

The dark one quirked an eyebrow at her. He was about to reply when Orca leapt at him from the side. Given little time to parry, the twin blade was knocked off balance, and he had no time to block a thrust from Balmung, strait through the left rib cage, just below the heart. A moment later, his momentum preventing him from stopping, Orca thrust his blade through the stomach. A strangled scream sounded, but it was not the dark one's. It was Kite's.

* * *

Authoress's Corner! 

Muahaha... I am pretty evil to Kite, aren't I? And I don't stop being evil to him. Actually, earlier today I had inspiration and wrote down a scene very near to the ending of the story. In fact, once finished with the scene, it may be the final one. I won't say anything about it now except this: As far as my mind's worked it out, this story's ending is balanced on a hairline edge. It could either be happy or very sad. As in tearfully sad. But, I'm not sure yet. Amaya, Akira and all the rest haven't played their parts all the way there yet. But I have a pretty good idea how this will end, regardless. Heck, if I get enough demands for it, (hint!) then I'll post two versions of the ending: One happy and one tragic.

Anyway, yes, it was a cliffie! Muahaha! But if I kept typing up the scene, this chapter would be soooo long.. and a certain reviewer would kill me. No, not because of the length, but because of.. content, shall we say. - Nothing particularly "wrong," mind...

Anyway, I use the word Anyway a lot, don't I? That aside, a warning about the next chapter: Parts of the next chapter will be rather graphic. Bloody. Violent. In fact, a bit of this chapter was, too. But the next chapter is worse as far as that goes and, as far as I can tell, the chapter after that will be similar if not more bloody. You have been warned.

**_REVIEWERLY PEOPLE!_**

**Theatre-Sama: **ehehe... I hope the delay wasn't too long. I've been rather unwell. Rather crummy spring break, I must say. This is the SECOND illness I've had in less than a week. Grr... Sorry. Anyway, I think I might actually get around to reading your fanfiction this evening or tomorrow. Lookie lookie lookie! Skeith's wand popped up in the chapter! I couldn't think of a better weapon for Morganna... so... Tada! Buahaha.. another cliffie!

**windchaser90: **The guy was Orca. Hurrah for Orca! Yes, Piros is gay, but I'm not having that.. creep in my fanfiction if I can help it. -shivers- The cast might get irked at me! Kite: Yes! I would! I mean, I already am pissed off at you because you're KILLING ME! Me? Eh? Who said anything 'bout killing you? Kite: It's a little obvious if they read this chapter! Well.. ok.. so you aren't killing me, but it feels like it! Me: Right. Tsukasa: Hey, I though you said you wouldn't be impaling anyone.. Me: I never said that. Balmung: Are you sure? Me: Positive. Now if you don't let me get back to replying to reviewers, I swear I'll sic Piros on you! Cast: Nooooooooo! Sora: Hey! Annoyer is MY job! Anyway, if you should impale anyone, it's Piros. Me: -shoves Sora off stage- Ahem.. Sorry about that. See, though? My cast doesn't want Piros. They'd kill him before Morganna got the chance.

**Steeple333**: Eh.. It probably can be both. Sora does have awsome Katars, though. And Kite's Crimson Raid is awesome. Three pronged claws! ahahahahah! Thanks!

**dreamcaster555**: Thanks for the review!

**Dragon's Hitokiri**: Emm... I don't see any reviewers going crazy yet.. so, I dunno. -whispers something to Sora- Sora: All right! -evil grintackles Dragon's Hitokiri and starts poking-

**Reader** : Thanks!

**Andrius O'Conner**: A magus plushie, eh? -hands one over- There ya go! I'm flattered that you like my ficiton so much. Thanks!

**Twilight Memories** : Thanks! I tried to keep everyone in character. Eh.. Mimiru is hard... Surprising, I think... But she is. You'll have to wait and see how I get them out of their comas... If I get the out of their comas. - Well, I got the idea for Mimiru thinking Orca would be a nerd from Legend of the Twilight Bracelet. Rena thinks Balmung is probably some fat sweaty geeky guy with big glasses. Mimiru's kind of like Rena, so having her think similar thoughts made sense. I haven't seen a KitexTsukasa pairing before, either. At first, I didn't particularly intend them to be a 'couple,' but after getting through their first real conversation, it made sense to me. Mimiru x Orca would be.. interesting, to say the least. But I don't think I'll do anything along that route.

**Wind Kaze:** -is in shock- Hurrah! I have the marvelous Wind Kaze as a fan! I love Paradise Sin and I'm happy you like my fiction. I know what you mean about bad .hack fanfictions. There are some, but they're few and far between. Yours is one of them and I'm glad that mine seems to be, too. -holds flamethrower, grin splayed across my face- Muahahaha! Y'know.. I've only had one real flamer, but even another reviewer pointed out that the anonymous person was sadly mistaken over the Maha/Macha/Mia thing. I know some people consider any corrections to be 'flames,' but I prefer people telling me what I did wrong. Reading through my old chapters, I've been laughing at some of my typos and grammar gaffs. When I'm done with this, I will go through my master copy and correct them. I also have noticed one or two plot inconsistancies, but I'll get around to correcting those too. Glad to have you as a reader! Please forgive my nattering. -offers you a grinning Sora plushie, complete with bloodstained katars-

**angelyoshi4444**: Thank you very much! I'm flattered. Good luck with your own fanfiction and let me know when you've uploaded it so I can read it.

So.. that's 10 whole reviews for this chapter! Woooooohoooo! I may have some hope of reaching 100 reviews, after all!


	14. Bye Bye Balmung, hello everyone else

**Fragments of a Shattered Mirror**

_Disclaimer: I do not own, have not owned, and will never own Bandai or the .hack franchise, including the anime, games, manga and characters, situations, items, and places therein. I do, however, own this plot. It's mine. My own. My precious! Muahaha! (yes, as a matter of fact, I was watching LoTR whilest writing the latter half of this chapter… -drools over Faramir- The actor is hot, and I love the actual character… muah…)_

_Futher Disclaimering: Uh.. It's chapters like this one that earn this story a 'T' rating. Umm.. I'm rather graphic in my description of yon wounds.. uh.. Sorry if that grossess you out, but you have been warned. Oh, and, uh, please don't kill me for what I do to certain characters in this chapter! Please! If you kill me, I won't be able to remedy the situation at all…_

_More notes and blathering: Also, please don't kill me for being really late with this chapter. You have no idea how busy I've been and will be. Therefore, I've had little time to work out the numerous problems I was having in writing this. However, hopefully, I've solved the troubles I had. A certain reviewer, who shall remain nameless, reviewed the last chapter twice and, uh, to thee I dedicate this chapter! All right… so you shan't remain nameless…_

_This chapter be dedicated to Twilight! (Even though you'll probably be really mad at me for what I do to Balmung)_

**Chapter 13**

The pain of being impaled twice was not the dark one's, but Kite's. The burning agony filled his senses, but, to his credit, he didn't faint. He did collapse, but he collapsed upon Tsukasa, who was there preventing him from falling to the ground. The hurt did not abate, but grew stronger, especially because it felt as though fire had been poured into his stomach and one lung collapsed. The World swayed and blurred before his eyes, growing dim at the edges. But, he would not let himself succumb to the pain. He weakly clutched at his stomach, though it did little to stop the gush of blood.

Hot and crimson, the liquid filled the impaled lung, making breathing difficult, dripped in a steady stream down his chest and spurted out of his stomach. His shirt, ensanguined, was mostly a dark scarlet, now, and the fluid splashed sickeningly into a small puddle that was growing slowly at Kite's feet. Quite sick with the pain, Kite groaned softly, face contorted in anguish. He did something between a cough and a retch, spitting up blood.

The dark one merely laughed, impaled though he was. "Don't you realize, fools, that if you hurt me, you hurt him? This is his body and he feels the pain. Much better than mere possessing, if I do say so myself. So, go ahead. Kill me. You'd kill him, too, and rather painfully. After all, it's not my life. It's his."

Tsukasa completely ignored him. Instead, she attempted to heal Kite. To her consternation, the healing spells didn't work. Well, at least not the way they were intended. The bleeding slowed, though Kite shook with convulsions as he continued to cough up copious amounts of s blood. Mimiru, too, tried to heal Kite with items, but Kite was in no condition to swallow the potions.

"It might help to remove your swords, idiots," remarked the dark one, his tone off hand and condescending.

Hesitantly, glaring at the dark clone, Orca slowly pulled out his sword. It shone not with the light gleaming off metal, but with the light reflecting off of the blood slicking the surface. Some of the warm liquid dripped off onto the grass. The odd thing about this was the dark one seemed not to have any blood. He seemed almost to be… hollow on the inside.

Anyway, as the blade slid back along the wound, as Orca withdrew it, new searing pain assailed Kite's stomach and he groaned, clutching harder at the wound as fresh blood welled out of it. Considering the volume of blood spilt upon the ground and staining his cloths, it was a miracle he was alive, much less conscious. Orca gazed at his friend, eyes clouded with anxiety.

Tsukasa swiftly cast a healing spell and the wound in Kite's stomach healed, though a scar could clearly be seen upon his digital skin. Like the earlier wound, the blood remained. Still, color did not return to Kite's cheeks and the wound through his lung was still there. Breathing still was agonizing.

"Now the other blade, perhaps, fool?" suggested the dark one, in a droll tone and rolling his eyes. "We don't want Kite dying, do we? Don't look at me like that. If you leave a sword through him, especially through the lung, he'll likely die. In fact, I can feel his pulse weakening and his mind slipping into a blood and oxygen deprived darkness. I think he's choking on his own blood, although he seems to have coughed up half of it…"

"Shut up!" screeched Mimiru, who was a sickly shade of green.

Balmung removed his sword – it, like Orca's, had a slick of blood coating it – and Tsukasa healed Kite. "Come on, Kite," she whispered, eyes clouded with worry. "You can pull through."

The gash mended itself, as did the lung. However, due to Balmung and Orca's distraction of watching Kite to see if he was all right, they neglected to watch the dark one. He made good use of the moment by kicking Orca aside and delivering several deadly slashes of his queer blades to Balmung. The winged knight cried out in surprise and fear, for his hit points were very much diminished. Although he managed to block the next slash, the blade master was sent flying. To the player's eyes, his status flashed red, alerting him to his dangerously low health points. To the ears of Kite, Tsukasa and the dark one, a distinctive shattering sound was to be heard, and a blue sphere appeared just to explode in sync with this sound.

"Noooooooo!" cried Tsukasa and Kite as each made a futile lunge for the dark one or Balmung.

In spite of their effort, the dark one lifted his wrist and the bracelet unfurled. At the same time, the bracelet of Kite himself flashed brilliantly and threatened to activate fully. It was all Kite could do to keep his own bracelet from activating, and yet, it was not enough. His arm jerked up and forward, the ring encircling it unfurling in a near mirror image of the dark one's. A shudder wracked Kite's body as the bracelet painfully pulled energy from the boy to fuel its actions, and the twin blade cried out in despair.

Threads of many colored lights spun away from the two bracelets, converging upon Balmung, poor Balmung. (A/N: Ahahahahahahahahahahahaha! Err… –looks distinctly uncomfortable as Balmung fans threaten to kill the author- Onto the rest of the story! –flees- ) He cried out as pain ripped through his body, literally, though he remained frozen in place. The light retracted and the knight collapsed with a low groan. He attempted to push himself up, but his muscles wouldn't respond. Balmung's mind slipped from his aching body into darkness, and his digital body turned grey and faded.

- - - - - - -

_A college dorm_

A tall young man, in his senior year at college, was seated at his computer in a dorm room. The room wasn't big, but it was big enough for the neat 22 year old and his room mate. Currently, he was alone. Neuro goggles covered his eyes and his hands were clenched around a controller. Abruptly, he let out a strangled cry, body locking into its pose, controller slipping from his grip. His pulse raced, breathing becoming ragged. His body's tremors were quite obvious by the shaking of his slightly shaggy (though not exceptionally long) sandy brown hair.

A sickly groan escaped his lips just as his roommate entered and, to the roommate's horror, the tall youth collapsed onto his desk, head clattering onto the keyboard before he slid onto the floor.

- - - - - - - -

_The World_

"Balmung!" cried Orca, voice torn between rage, horror and disbelief. His eyes looked first to the dark one, then to Kite himself.

Kite, shuddering violently, fell to his hands and knees. His breathing was ragged as he stared at nothing, horror and self-loathing filling his wide eyes. The eyes then squeezed shut, and his gloved hands closed tightly around the digital grass, tearing some from its roots. Slowly sinking back to a kneeling position, he lifted his hand before his eyes, staring at his right wrist.

"No…" he murmured, voice taut with mental anguish. "How? How could… How could I? Balmung… No…"

Meanwhile, Mimiru gasped in horror and stopped her movement, staring at where Balmung had been, then at Kite, then at the dark one. Her eyes rested the longest upon Kite. But then, they narrowed in a glare as she looked upon the dark one. Sword held before her, Mimiru stepped forward, face set in grim defiance.

"You son of a bitch, what the hell do you want? Why are you doing this?"

"Revenge," replied the dark one, eyes fixed not upon here, but upon Kite, calculating something.

"For what? Against who?"

The dark one rolled his eyes, then said, slowly and with great condescending in his tone, "Against a great many people, especially a certain twin blade and a certain wavemaster." The black eyes glinted with sudden fire. "And those who aided them!"

"Why?" asked Orca and Mimiru together. "What is the point of making them, of making us suffer more?"

"Wouldn't you like to know," sneered the dark one, his tone reminiscent of a certain green haired player killer. "Perhaps my daughter could explain. She, after all, is the root of this all."

Tsukasa, who had stared first at where Balmung had been, then at Kite, now shook her head slowly and looked balefully at the dark one. "You want to cause grief to Aura, too. You, who has ever sought to destroy your own daughter, would use us against her." A mirthless smile touched her lips. "Like you haven't already caused enough. If you want to harm her so badly, why not just drop the barrier you hold about this place and let her in? Then, use your supposed powers and delete her. Or can't you? Do you still have your limitations? You still have your boundaries. You aren't strong enough. Not yet. So you use the one with the power to strengthen you. Kite. Because you have not the strength to delete and absorb the data of others, you latched onto him to usurp his energy, his strength, his power. And now, you defeat and absorb others'. Am I not right, Morgannaaaaugh!"

The others had all turned their attention to Tsukasa, watching the wavemaster slowly step towards the dark one as she spoke. The dark one glared at her with venomous loathing. As Tsukasa uttered her final query, though, the dark one exerted his strength upon her through the strange connection forged by her earlier partial data draining. The wavemaster's body was jerked upward a few inches as if a hook fastened at her chest was yanked. Her limbs stiffened straight, and her staff fell to the ground.

"Yes, you fool," came a snarled reply. "Right you are, but you have irked me once too often. Rather than letting you watch all those you care about die, such as, perhaps, a certain heavy blade over there, or perhaps that axe woman, I'll deal with you now."

Mimiru and Orca were both poised to attack, but they hesitated, unwilling to do damage to the dark one at the cost of hurting Kite again. Kite himself had now staggered to his feet, gazing forlornly at both the dark one and Tsukasa. He tried to mentally break the hold upon the wavemaster, but he met with an imposing wall without hole or chink blocking any intrusion into the mind of Morganna. However, the twin blade had a different plan to at the least distract the dark one. Drawing his blades, he was about to implement it when the area around him flickered. Static buzzed and sizzled about Kite, the dark one and Tsukasa. Then, a cross between a trio of golden rings and a polygonal orb surrounded the three, and they disappeared.

"Kite!" cried Orca.

"Tsukasa!" shouted Mimiru.

The two players ran forward a few steps, as if they could somehow follow the others. But they could not. And, not knowing where the trio went, neither Mimiru nor Orca could follow. Lowering their swords, they gazed at each other with worried confusion.

The slight chime announcing teleportation resounded behind them, causing both to start and spin about, blades once again raised. However, they relaxed upon seeing who it was and struggled to speak, to give some explanation. Mia, worry in her golden eyes, Helba, staff clutched tightly in hand, Elk, looking distinctly anxious, and Aura, vivid azure eyes wide and frightened, stood there. Mimiru and Orca's stammered words faltered as Helba shook her head.

"We know what happened," said Helba. "Aura… she could watch it. She showed us."

"We couldn't come before because Morganna had sealed this area off," stated Mia, stepping forward and scanning the trampled ground around them. Her eyes rested longest upon the dark stain of blood where Kite had stood.

Elk murmured, "Where d… do you th- think they a- are? Aura?"

She shook her head. "To a place separate from others. The upside down castle. It is still there, but it is completely sealed from external access, even by the gate at the cathedral. I do not know if… if I can reach there…"

"But I think I can," said Helba after a moment of thought. "Yes… I had nearly cracked the barrier around this place when it had dropped. So, it shouldn't take too long to disintegrate the other."

"But," interjected Mimiru. "What can we do once we get there? If we attack the dark one, it'll only hurt Kite, and if we hurt Kite bad enough, he'll die. If not in the World, but maybe in the hospital."

"And if you kill him merely in the World, it'll only allow Morganna to bind herself more fully to him," added Mia. "But, there's a chance if we can weaken Morganna, or at least open some part of her up to intrusion. It may be possible to separate her and then destroy her."

"How?" asked Orca.

"That depends entirely on you four, Kite and Tsukasa," said Helba. "If you can find a way to weaken her, then I can find a way to delete her, or at least separate her from Kite. Aura, I can count on your assistance in that area, can I not?"

"Yes," said the girl. "Then, we can release Balmung as well."

"Right," said Mia. "Well, then, are you ready? Let's go!"

She lifted her sword into the air upon her cry. After a moment of exchanged glances, the others lifted their swords or staves to meet hers. (Aura merely nodded grimly, having neither staff nor sword to lift.)

Author's Corner 

_Muahaha! Well… I really did have problems in writing this, besides having little time in which to write it. Oh.. Speaking of little time, don't expect the next chapter for at least two weeks, likely longer. School play is next week, final exam for Honors Biology is next week, AP bio exam is a week from Monday.. and, well… I've also got other school work to do… like a project on Ovid among other things… Yeah._

_I want to thank anyone who still remembers me and reads, then reviews this chapter, even if you hate it. Yeah… I'm not really sorry about what I did to Balmung, though. I kind of had that planned out for a while now… And, well, it just fit in well to add to Kite's misery… I couldn't cut it out for all the Balmung fans! I, too, am sort of a Balmung fan.. or at least a Fan of Balmung in the Twilight Manga… -hugs Balmung the administrator- He's more mature than in the games, and oh so much more awesome. Specially with hapless Reki (who is also awesome… especially because he would rather be studying history than work as an assistant) tagging along. I loved that manga… I've reread it at least five times, I swear…._

_Anyway, this is all beside the point. Please forgive me if this chapter sucked, and forgive me even more for being late. I can only blame the lust for good grades in school and the desire to do really well in classes so that I can get into all the honors courses I am signed up for next year… (Yeah.. Next year, if you expect writing from me, you will REALLY have to be patient.. ehehe.. I am so gonna die even if I wind up being in regular US history rather than honors. Lessee… honors chem, honors precalculus, honors english 10 (American lit), Latin 3, Possibly honors US history, sculpture, band, and gym so I can get gym credits, thus rendering me studyhall-less… oh crap.. damn intellect… damn thirst for knowledge… and damn not wanting to be bored in a slower paced class… oh.. and damn my mom urging me to take as many honors courses as I could… gaaah)_

_Ok.. Sorry about that rant there…_

_It has just dawned on my how insanely busy I will be._

_Oh well… I have all summer to finish this story._

_Anyway, on to replies to my reviews!_

_**Twilight: **_Well, I replied to your 2cd review via email. Buahaha... Please don't kill me for data draining Balmung! I mean, it went towards the good cause of Kite torture.. (speaking of which, there'll be a boatload in the next chapter.. muahahaha.. and Morganna beating up on Tsukasa, too...)But anyway, as you see.. I've worked out what I was having trouble with... and.. yeah. Hope you like it!

**Windchaser90**: I didn't update soon, but I updated! Muahaha... Yeah... Actually, the more I think about it, the more one of the endings makes more sense than the other.. So, I may just post one ending, or I may post two completely different from what I wrote down. It all depends on where my little torture muse takes me.

**Dragon's Hitokiri** : Sora: Boing! -leaps away, then jumps onto your head and starts poking you with his katars-  
me: Kite: -glares at me- Why can't you just let me kill Morganna and get it over with? Me: Because then the story would suck. All right? Shut up and take your pain medication... Anyway, Here's the next chapter!

**Theatre-sama**: -hands you a plushie Skeith wand- See? It's furry and squishie! Well, your story is somewhat confusing.,.. I think that's because you jump around between characters and places, but it is interesting. I haven't reallyhad time to review it.

** Cassiopia**: You laughed when the dogs died in Where the Red Fern Grows! How..? I loved those dogs! And Bridge to Terebithia! Man.. you're heartless... xD

**Steeple333**: Yeah.. Actually, that was what I was thinking of when I made the dark one... The omake Balmung vs. Kite... xD Oh.. that woudl be soooo cool if they (bandai) did a volume of Kite gone evil...

**Twilight Memories;** Ok... The cliffhanger has been resolved.. with another cliff hanger of sorts!

**Spirit Alleron:** But... Torturing Kite is fun! And Morganna already took her revenge on Sora... Besides, major revenge on Kite and Tsukasa only makes sense... They stole the spotlight from the disembodied voice that be Morganna... Yes, of course K & Tsu romance will grow... I may not do much with it... But it'll be there. I really don't like slash, either...

**Wind Kaze:** -hugs you- Why must you take so long with Paradise Sin! -sniffle- Anyway, muahaha.. Another cliffie here.. sort of.. I mean, I tell you where Kite, Tsukasa and Morganna are, but not what is going on there... Muahaha...

**Thankies all for reading & reviewing! Maybe, by the end of this story, I can have over 100 reviews! (Yes.. I'm hopeful!)**


	15. Disturbing things

**Fragments of a Shattered Mirror**

_Disclaimer: I do not own, have not owned, and will never own Bandai or the .hack franchise, including the anime, games, manga and characters, situations, items, and places therein. I do, however, own this plot. It's mine. My own. My precious! Muahaha!_

_Futher Disclaimering: Uh.. This chapter… uh… is rather disturbing. Um… and it is because of this chapter that the rating gets upped to an 'M'. However, before I change the rating, I would like your input. Please. I have mixed feelings about this chapter… and I would really like your opinion. It was the product of letting my sick and twisted mind wander one night from about 10:30 PM till like 1 AM. And then I edited it… And now… I'm not sure I like it… Err… read it and I think you'll see why. But, please do not report me for having the wrong rating or for having a chapter like this. Instead, just tell me what you think of it and if you think I ought to keep it or write a different one. Personally, I'm leaning towards writing a different one, although I like the psychological sort of torment… err… But please do tell me what you think of it. Please!_

Chapter 14 

_Upside Down Castle_

The dark one gazed thoughtfully at the wavemaster, now unconscious, lying limply upon a pile of rubble. It had been so easy for Morganna to knock Tsukasa unconscious. Barely any effort at all, in fact, with the stronger seal around this realm, all but severing the connection between Tsukasa and Aura - No protection for the poor wavemaster. A cruel smile curled the dark one's lips. This would be fun.

Kite himself had been unconscious on arrival due to Morganna's mental influence, and he now lay prone upon a different pile of crumbled stone. The dark one wondered what to do first with the pair. Kite, the dark one knew, had to be kept alive, but he could still be toyed with. Furthermore, Kite at least counted Tsukasa as a friend, and Kite did not like to see his friends harmed. But how to prevent the twin blade from getting in the way? The dark one debated between binding him to a wall or one of the many pillars, and controlling the twin blade completely. It was just possible that Morganna could control Kite while giving vitality to the dark copy. Yes, controlling him was a good idea, but if the twin blade broke free from her influence even for a short while, events could jump out of her control, and tying him up would be so much easier.

The decidedly evil smirk still adorning the dark one's lips, Morganna made her preparations for when the pair awakened; she also made a few precautions against the arrival of Kite and Tsukasa's friends, especially the irksome Aura and the pesky hacker Helba.

_Mac Anu_

Blackrose, upon receiving no email reply from Kite, had emailed Orca, since the two went to the same school. However, no response came, and the girl emailed Balmung. Again, no reply. Therefore, she tried Mia and Elk. Still no reply. Beginning to freak out, Blackrose logged on, appearing in the Water City of Mac Anu. Luckily, at least for her, she had but a few seconds time before Mia, Elk, Orca, and Mimiru appeared clustered at the chaos gate. All four had grave looks upon their faces.

"Hey… guys?" greeted Blackrose, tone tentative and worried. "I tried emailing you, but I got no reply, so… uh… Where're Kite and Tsukasa? And isn't Balmung with you? The thing ( translation: List of friends. I'm assuming there'd be one saying which of the people with whom you've exchanged member addresses were on) said he was online."

Orca and Mimiru looked distinctly uncomfortable, and Elk looked rather unsure. Therefore, Mia took the initiative.

"Balmung was data drained, and he is in a coma in the real world, I believe," said the purple cat. "Kite and Tsukasa are… gone. Morganna has them…"

"Wha-?" Blackrose's face was a picture of confusion. "What do you mean Balmung was data drained! By whom? Why? And what do you mean Morganna has Kite? She physically took him some place or is he… is he.. no.. he can't…"

"Possessed? No, he is not possessed," replied Mia with a sigh. "Morganna warped Kite and Tsukasa to a place separate from, yet a part of this place."

"Eh…? Where is that? And what about Balmung?"

"The place I speak of is essentially a great upside down castle. Helba and Aura are working on a way to access it right now. They'll alert us when they've broken through the barriers. But about Balmung… Well, if you want to know the details of what all happened, ask Orca and Mimiru. They were actually there."

"Well?" Blackrose turned to the blademaster and the other heavy blade. "What happened to… to Kite and Balmung and Tsukasa?"

Orca and Mimiru looked at each other, waiting for the other to begin, to blurt out what happened. Neither really wanted to recount the grizzly details, even if they reduced it to merely the draining of Balmung. After all, although it was against the twin blade's will, Kite had helped in the data draining. However, after a few awkward moments of silence, Mimiru began to tell Blackrose. Orca took up the story here and there and added comments and things he thought important. As the tale progressed, Blackrose's expression became a mixture of horror, sadness and grim determination.

When the recount was completed, the pink tressed girl said, "Well, don't think I'll stay behind. I'm coming with you!"

Elk – surprisingly, due to his shy nature – was the one to reply: "We wouldn't expect anything else from you, Blackrose."

The heavy blade smiled weakly and briefly. Silence followed. An awkward silence. No one was quite sure what to say. Therefore, no one said a thing. Mia cocked her head and ears as if listening to something, perhaps a conversation of one of the other players milling about Mac Anu. Then, she grinned a pointy toothed grin.

"Aura and Helba have found a way to watch and listen to what's going on between Kite, Tsukasa and Morganna," she explained upon seeing the questioning looks of her comrades. "Therefore, let us depart to the Net Slums, where it may be more easily explained by the hacker and Aura themselves."

And so, after a few moments, they went, as a group, first to the third server, and then directly to the Net Slums.

_Upside Down Castle_

Tsukasa was the first to awaken, stirring groggily and fluttering open bleary, dazed eyes. It was several moments before her surroundings, much less her predicament or recent events even began to come together. During that interval of confusion, the wavemaster groaned softly, not even realizing she made a sound. Thus, Morganna was aware of Tsukasa's awakening ere Tsukasa was even aware of it herself.

The wavemaster's lavender eyes, finally focusing, found themselves gazing up at a stone ceiling in grave disrepair. The roof was not in danger of falling down, but its surface was pockmarked and eroded. Turning her head a little, Tsukasa beheld large, evenly spaced pillars supporting the ceiling, though in places, the pillars lay in pieces dispersed across the floor, while in other spots, the columns were cracked; it was a wonder they stood at all. Turning her head a little more, she saw a rubble-strewn floor of large tiles that might once have been painted. Now, only tints and paint fragments remained where the tiles were intact. Many, however, were smashed, chipped and cratered.

And standing upon those tiles a short distance away, maybe a meter and a half at most, was a shadowy figure that was a perfect caricature of a certain twin blade named Kite. This figure, however, was not Kite, but a dark clone, a physical form taken by Morganna. And the dark one was grinning such a chilling smirk that sent shivers down Tsukasa's spine. The dark one took a step towards the wavemaster, then another. His pace was a slow saunter, nonchalant, yet somehow menacing.

"Hello, my little Tsukasa," murmured he, a single dark, velvety voice soft and seducing, yet another voice of harsher tones spoke, too. The two sides of Morganna given inflection. "We're going to have lots of fun, you and I."

Tsukasa tried to squirm away but found herself paralyzed. Seeing the slight widening of the wavemaster's eyes, and a renewed fear, the dark one only smiled more broadly. Squatting down next to the girl, his smirk shifted to a leer. A gloved hand caressed the wavemaster's cheek, and Tsukasa could do no more than glare. No lethargy nor physical bonds impaired her movement that she could see, so why could she not move? Why could she not retaliate?

The dark one reached his hands beneath Tsukasa and lifted her head and torso up. Still, the wavemaster found herself unable to move. Then, much to the girl's horror, the dark one's lips fastened upon her own. Against her will, the lips caressed her own, then a tongue was thrust into her mouth, exploring every corner. To her own self-loathing, Tsukasa felt a stirring within herself, a tingling physical lust for more… more of the kiss… and then more after that. And she trembled in the dark one's hands as he kissed her with fervor and passion, pressing her tightly to his own warm body. His hands stroked her body, fingers somehow stirring up a greater physical lust.

Shame, revulsion and anger filled Tsukasa's mind, warring with the utter tingling delight for dominance. Through the kiss – which seemed never to end – Tsukasa's body betrayed her, releasing a moan of pleasure. Then, finally, the dark one's lips left hers, and she was left breathing in gasps. Tsukasa had not even caught her breath when again his mouth was locked with hers, tongue again tasting and teasing. Now, of all moments, the control of her mouth returned in part to her, and, though her mind screamed at her not to do so, she was kissing him back, her own tongue pushing into his mouth, exploring it as thoroughly as his had her own. And for that, he kissed all the harder. After that…

- - - -

_Net Slum_

Even Aura and Helba had ceased their attempts to unravel the web-like barrier around the upside down castle to stare in horror at what was going on in that realm. All of them: Mia, Elk, Orca, Mimiru, and Blackrose stood stricken, staring into the thin screen through which they could see Tsukasa and Kite within the upside-down castle realm. What they saw now… was disturbing to watch, to say the least, yet they could not tear their eyes away. A horrible mixture of brutality and sensuality.

"Oh my god," moaned Mimiru, shuddering, near tears for her friend. "Amaya… That bastard son of a bitch... what the hell does he think he's doing! If we ever get there, I'll tear him to pieces!"

Elk was white and shaking. Blackrose and Orca were as horrified and disgusted as Mimiru, though the two were less vocal in expressing it. Mia, however, simply looked angry. Her fur stood slightly on end, and her lips were curled back from her pointed teeth in a snarl. Helba's face was expressionless.

Aura, eyes sad, pained and tired, shook her head and murmured, "That isn't Kite… Mother… why are you doing this?"

- - - -

_Upside-down castle_

Amid the twisting guilt and ecstasy, sudden, intense pain assailed the wavemaster, and she screamed, or tried to. However, the dark one's mouth over hers prevented an actual cry of distress. The agony and the ecstasy existed side by side in a paradox of sensation. It felt as though every ounce of energy, however, every scrap of mental resistance was torn away in that excruciating pain. Somehow able to keep his mouth clamped upon hers, the dark one stood, pulling the limp wavemaster up with him. He seemed now to be sucking something through her mouth, draining her stamina, her endurance away.

Then, just as the pain began to taper off from its peak, he let her drop, and Tsukasa indeed fell quite limp upon the ground, violent shudders wracking her body for a time. It was then that control of her own limbs returned to her. However, no energy remained for her to move, save to curl up into a shivering ball. Tears began to stream from her now tightly closed eyes, and, along with the tremors, sobs wrenched through her.

Dark laughter echoed through the chamber, repeated manifold as the sound waves bounced off every available surface. Summoning a last bit of energy, Tsukasa curled herself into a tighter ball. Every inch of her body now ached. The wavemaster felt as though she could die and would die, but she didn't. Sleep wouldn't even come that she might replenish the energy stolen by Morganna.

Meanwhile, the dark one stood some distance back, watching. Then, abruptly, a tortured cry of distress and horror tore from his lips as he collapsed, the sheet of ice melting from his eyes and the wicked smirk faced into an expression of shock and self-revulsion. But it wasn't the dark one, then, who… who did all that. It was Kite, albeit controlled by Morganna.

Pushing himself weakly to hands and knees, Kite stared at the ground through tear-blurred eyes. Shame in his cerulean eyes, he barely managed to lift them to look at the huddled wavemaster a short distance away. Seeing the pathetic state of the figure, he staggered to his feet. Barely able to walk, though somehow managing, Kite made his way the few steps to the wavemaster. He bent down, picking up the torn robe, then gently moved to wrap it around Tsukasa.

She stared up at him with accusing, fearful eyes, haunted eyes. Though she lacked the energy to do so, Tsukasa tried to move away from him, hissing, "Don't touch me."

Kite winced, face a picture of guilt-ridden misery. Ignoring her command, he wrapped her in her robe. Then, he backed away, moving towards a nearby pillar, against which he sat, head in his hands, though he watched Tsukasa out of the corner of his eye. After a moment or two, she pulled her robe tight about herself, though she continued to shudder.

Self-loathing filled Kite's mind for what he'd done, though it had not been his will. Before he had even awoken, Morganna had forsaken her copy of him to concentrate her powers upon controlling the twin blade with out fail. Thus, she directed his every action until she released him, though Kite felt every touch his fingers made, every single moment of agonized bliss was his to feel, and with each shudder of pleasure running through his own frame, he heard Morganna's cackle sharp in his ears, though there was nothing he could do about it. Kite fought her every inch of the way, but to no avail. He, too, had lost his virginity quite against his wishes. Therefore, in a way, you could say he was raped, too.

The twin blade knew there was no way he could possibly apologize to Tsukasa. There was no way in heaven or hell he could bring himself to ask for forgiveness. Though his logic told him there was no way he could have overcome Morganna with almost her full concentration upon controlling his actions, especially when he had no chance to resist her to begin with, his heart and the rest of his thought railed him for not resisting enough, for letting this happen, for doing that to Amaya. With such turmoil of thought, he didn't even realize he was crying, sobbing with Tsukasa.

* * *

Author Notes: 

… Well… Err… Not much to say that I didn't say in the notes at the beginning. Again please don't report me, and please please tell me your opinion on it… If you found it quite disturbing… well… it was supposed to be. –sigh- Besides.. I think my disturbed brain knew a bit of what it was doing... Err... Maybe... O.o

At least I don't have writer's block... I can tell you that... Last night I began writing the next chapter... starting with our friends in net slums, and I tell you.. with something for them to be creeped out and disturbed by.. makes thinking of what they would be doing a bit easier... Yeah..

By the way, About Balmung: No... He won't actually die. Actually, originally, when I first started writing this story, I was going to have him be visitng Tokyo for a bit... and, due to him driving a friend with whom he is staying to the hospital, I was going to have Balmung be there, coincidentally, when Kite's mom & Yasu come in... and Balmung ( while waiting for his friend to get stiches or whatever) over hears them... And, somewhat intruiged, he finds a way to follow them... And meets Yasu.. and they talk.. and yeah... But.. as you have read, events turned out differently...

To mah reviewers:

Theatre-sama: XD yes! Frontline news! Morganna's voice? Oh. You dont' hear her in the games. Just in SIGN... Y'know.. that woman's voice which talks to Tsukasa? That's Morganna. Well.. right now I don't have email, except for my school account... So I don't know when / how I could send you another character... But I do have one in mind. Oh. No. I still have three years left of high school. I'm a freshman. O.o Gosh, I don't even turn 15 for another 10 days... But yeah.. This is just an estimate.. and I'm sure I'm wrong, but I think there might be 5 chapters left.. plus the ending/epilogue thingy...

Steeple333: Indeed. The easter eggs rawk! Plus, in the third manga, some of the old characters do actually show up... as in Kite and Orca... They email Balmung. I just liked that touch. Yeah.. I think he is a Sora fan, too.. And someone who really likes drawing costumes... Y'know.. I'm thinking of doing a short "Kite-gone-psyco" story after I finish this one... Inspired by the lovely Kite v. Balmung thing... Completely AU and OOC, but oh well.

Cassiopia: Uh.. Twilight was upset at me killiing Balmung. I'm glad you liked that chapter. After working out the kinks, I think it was one of my favorite chapters to write...

AerisValeria: I set aside time to write. Before bed. I think I emailed you, but I have no email right now, so... Who knows if you replied or anything. I would have sent you this chapter for proofreading and whatnot, but I really don't want to use my school email for that.. because, well, the school might be a little irked at me. They have the capability to check emails... so they might check a really long one...

Twilight: -grins broadly- Muahaha... I have time to write, but I don't have time to type it up. xP Or post stuff... Except for right now. I thought I explained why Aura wasn't there earlier. -shrugs- oh well..

Again.. I'm still not exactly happy with this chaptet, but I thought I'd put it out there so you guys can give me an alternate (or agreeing) opinion on it. By the way, if I leave this chapter up, this'll be the only chapter like this. The only other 'dark' things which will surface'll be less... err... umm... like that. They'll lean more towards blood, depression, angst, anger... err... and more blood? Maybe someone else getting data drained.

Sargent Snarky


	16. The Beginning of the End

**Fragments of a Shattered Mirror**

_Disclaimer: I do not own, have not owned, and will never own Bandai or the .hack franchise, including the anime, games, manga and characters, situations, items, and places therein. I do, however, own this plot. It's mine. My own. My precious! Muahaha!_

_Futher Disclaimering: Right. Due to violence and the chapter preceding this, I am officially bumping the rating up to "M"/"R". Umm.. This doesn't have so much Kite torture as Tsukasa torture… But… Well.. you'll see…_

Chapter 15

_Net Slum_

There were no comments exchanged between the friends. What was there to say? What could they say? Mimiru sat on a large (and completely random) box, kicking her legs distractedly. Blackrose leaned against a different side of the cube, staring off into space. Orca sat on the ground next to Blackrose. Mia was with Helba and Aura within a building, where the rest of the group had been until a short while ago, monitoring the upside-down castle and attempting to crack the barrier around it. Elk, meanwhile, leaned against the wall of the building, expression glazed and still quite pallid as he gazed at the ground without seeing it.

Thus, they all remained for some time until an exclamation from the building in which Mia, Helba and Aura worked broke the silence. Helba materialized outside, a half smile curving he lips. It wasn't a happy smile, but it was somewhat pleased. Mia and Aura came out a few minutes later, and the others all snapped out of their dazes, turning towards the hacker.

"We'll have access in two hours," said Helba. "In two hours, the barrier will be gone."

- - - -

_Upside-down castle_

Tsukasa, her utter lack of energy overcoming her, had fallen into a fitful sleep. Kite, however, had not. He stared at her with a vacant expression that was somehow filled with guilt and sorrow. Shortly after the wavemaster had ceased her wracking sobs and drifted into slumber, the twin blade cast a healing spell upon her, and it seemed to have helped. A little. Strangely, her robe seemed to repair itself.

Kite's mind was now no longer filled with turmoil. It was cycling through memories of real things and dreams, and with certain memories, the twin blade's guilt and self-loathing grew. At the moment, he hated himself; he wished himself dead. And he decided Tsukasa probably wished he was dead, too. Poor Tsukasa. Poor Amaya. Ah, a fresh layer of guilt sliding through the boy's head.

Kite wrapped his arms around his knees, pulling them tight against his chest, as if, by making himself take up less space, he might find a way to disappear. A grimace twitched across his pallid features briefly as a sharp pain flashed through his skull. These short twinges had been going on since his body returned to his control. Recently, however, they had grown in intensity and frequency. Kite had an unhappy foreboding that Morganna would create her dark clone once more soon. Unfortunately, his foreboding was well merited, though it would be some time yet before the premonition would prove true.

Tsukasa's eyes flickered open, and she stirred groggily. Sitting up, she stared at nothing for long moments before curling into a ball and beginning to cry once more. She couldn't help herself, but this time, she didn't sob; she put her head in her arms and let the tears flow freely from her eyes. Kite gazed at her unhappily, then glanced around the floor. Knowing it was pointless, and probably useless, he cleared his throat.

"Amaya," he murmured.

She ignored him.

"Amaya," he murmured again. "Please…"

"Please what?" she spat. "Just say what you want to say, then shut the hell up."

"I… I can't ask you to forgive me… I… Saying I'm sorry would never be enough… And even the best excuse is no excuse… But… I… Amaya…"

"Shut up. Just shut up."

A defeated sigh escaped Kite's lips, and he whispered, "Please… Don't hate me. I couldn't stand it if you hated me… I… understand, though, if you loathe me and curse my name for eternity. It's my fault you're in this mess… Amaya…" Then, almost too softly to be heard, he added, "Please don't hate me… because I could never hate you… No… I… I think… I know… I… love you."

Her lavender eyes looked sidelong at him for a long moment, as if assessing him. A deep sadness replaced the anger, though it remained smoldering in the background. She did not trust herself to speak, however. Kite did not look up from staring at the floor. A wince passed briefly across his face.

Then, with sudden vehemence, a splitting agony filled Kite's head, and his wrist beneath the bracelet began to throb painfully. Kite could not help but cry out, gripping his wrist and making an effort to curl even tighter. It felt as though something was ripped away from his body, a third arm he never knew he had, or a leg.

Tsukasa turned in time to see light blossom from the bracelet, surrounding Kite, then expanding. It grew, stopped, and dissipated, leaving two figures behind. One, the true Kite, was gasping for breath and half collapsed against the pillar. The dark clone bent over and grasped his counterpart by the throat, lifting him up the stone. Kite kicked the dark one in the stomach, knocking him away. However, Kite was the one to double over in pain. Ah yes. He'd temporarily forgotten that lovely side effect. But, he didn't care. He was pissed as hell at Morganna.

"Bastard… Bitch... whatever you are, fiend… why?" hissed Kite, voice taut with emotion.

"Why what? Use full sentences," came the teasing reply.

Kite snarled, "You know full well what."

"Oh. That," said the dark one, tone decidedly smug. A pleased sneer twisted his lips. "You know full well why. And I'm not finished. I plan on drawing my revenge out. You don't expect me to just kill you and be done with it? Of course I have to tear away any shred of dignity, of hope, of resistance. I. Own. You. Both of you."

Tsukasa stared at the dark one with a baleful look that could have killed a whole pantry of cockroaches. (It should be noted that cockroaches are immune to practically everything, it seems, including nuclear radiation. Ok.. You can squish them, but they are still rather resistant to nearly everything. ) "You own nothing," she hissed, vehement venom in every syllable.

The wavemaster staggered to her feet and nearly collapsed again. The dark one gazed at her with annoyance, but nothing more. "You are wrong, little wavemaster," he stated. "I do own you. I've owned you since first I provided you the company of Macha, since first I drew you away from your miserable life on the other side, since I bound you to Aura. Oh yes… I've owned you for a long time."

Legs trembling beneath her, Tsukasa took a tottering step towards the dark one. "You have no power over me."

"Oh, quoting lines from old movies, are we?" (If anyone can tell me what movie that line is from, who says it (the character's name), and to whom (for this one, tell me the name of the actor, too… if you can.. bonus points for that) I'll dedicate my next chapter to you or something… Something spiffy. Like, maybe… uh… Well, it'll be a surprise.) The dark one cackled. "I'm sorry to tell you it won't work on me. I'm not Jarreth."

A queer, sickly smile flicked briefly across Tsukasa's lips; she spoke again, her voice holding more confidence that she actually felt. "No. You have no power over me. Over my digital body, yes… but not over me. Not anymore. You're truly powerless in that regard."

"Oh, really? Is that so?"

Upon the last word, Morganna lashed out with her power, jerking Tsukasa into the air, preventing any struggle on the girl's part. Leering up at the wavemaster, the dark one repeated, "Is that so, little wavemaster?"

From her position a few feet off the ground, Tsukasa glared down out at the dark clone. He responded by grinning. Morganna jerked the wavemaster to hang higher off the ground. A golden sort of glow seeped from the dark one's bracelet, gathering around his hands.

"Are you so sure, Tsukasa?"

He lifted his hand, but before he could send the energy anywhere, Kite tackled him, knocking him several feet along the ground.

"Leave. Her. Alone," hissed Kite, one of his blades held to the dark one's throat.

From his position on the ground, the dark one laughed. "Umm… No!"

Morganna then extended her power, flinging Kite back against the pillar opposite Tsukasa. Stiff vines of dark green, coated in barbed scarlet thorns, sprang from the ground, pushing up in between the floor tiles around the column. They grew with surpassing swiftness, wrapping first around Kite's feet and ankles, then quickly binding the rest of him tightly to the stone support. The curved, vermilion thorns dug into the boy's flesh, leaving behind scratches and pricks, which trickled droplets of blood, further staining the crimson protrusions. Kite grimaced and made an effort to free himself from the tendrils, but gave up for the more he struggled, the more the thorns lacerated his skin.

The dark one stood up, an irritatingly happy grin upon his face. Stepping slowly towards the two players, he held up a hand and wagged a finger at them. "Tut. Tut. Your ends would be much swifter and less painful if you wouldn't resist. Ah well… more fun for me."

The vines tightened even more about the twin blade, one even creeping across his neck, scratching the tender area and pressing uncomfortably tight against the throat. No strands sprouted beneath Tsukasa, but the power of Morganna held the girl pinned. Turning from Kite, the dark one smiled at the wavemaster. Again, the gold light began to gather around the dark one's bracelet and in his hand. Kite noticed, out of the corner of his eye, that a similar golden glow began to collect upon his own bracelet. A dark foreboding caused fear to fill his cerulean gaze, not for himself, but for Tsukasa.

The dark one lifted his wrist, holding it toward Tsukasa. The yellow light split into several curving tendrils, flying at the wavemaster, converging upon the hapless girl. Kite cried out in alarm and pain as the ochroid beams shot forth from his own bracelet, too. However, his cry was nothing compared to the scream, which tore from Tsukasa's lips. The outcry was filled with boundless suffering, not only of the body, but also of the mind.

To the wavemaster, this was more than a data drain, and worse. If the pain when Morganna tormented her, after she brought Subaru to see Aura, was the worst she had felt, this surpassed it exponentially. More than her body was being torn apart; Morganna reached into her mind, into her soul, unraveling it – or at least that's what it felt like. Amaya felt and saw any happy memories, any happy feelings torn away, and the worse ones, the ones she would do nearly anything to forget… they were pushed to the forefront. One by one, Tsukasa relived them, but it was worse than the first time; the pain was magnified, made sharper. Added to this were the constant words of Morganna flowing through her head, infusing her skull with things, true and false, meant to harm or dispirit the girl.

"Noooooooo!" she screamed, writhing amid the tearing, burning, freezing, biting light. "Let me go! Nooooo… It's… Please…. Make it stop! Aaaaaaaaaaaaaah! Noo… Pleeeaase! Make it stop… Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"

Kite, though he tried to at least look away, could not turn his head. He found himself forced to watch every moment of Tsukasa's agony. He stared in sickened horror as data flaked off of the wavemaster, consumed by the light. Gradually, the scream fell into a hoarse cry, then tapered off into low moans. These were followed by silence as the yellow light faded and disappeared, save for a few motes fluttering through the air. Tsukasa hung limply in the air for a few moments, then dropped onto the floor with a sickening thud. A groan escaped her lips amid her shallow gasps, but no other sound left her mouth.

Her eyes were wide, haunted, and they stared straight up, unfocused. One hand lifted up weakly, as if reaching for something. Indeed, the girl made an effort to sit up, to move, but in vain. No energy whatsoever remained, yet something would not permit her to drift into the deep sleep she longed for. A sleep from which there might be no awakening. Her hand trembled violently as she held it up. Then, it fell limply onto the rubble, her every muscle relaxing, though her eyes remained open, staring… staring… Not blinking. Her chest was barely seen to move.

"No," breathed Kite, closing his eyes and making a renewed effort to break his bonds. "Why? Why the hell can't you leave poor Amaya alone?" he demanded of the dark one.

The dark clone turned towards the other twin blade. He merely grinned in reply. Then, he said, in a conversational tone, "Please stop trying to kill yourself on those vines. Your other friends should be arriving quite soon, especially considering they've been watching all this. Of course I have a trap for them, and they know it now, if they hadn't already guessed it."

"Fucking bastard," hissed Kite, eyes burning with rage. "Leave my friends the hell alone."

"But I am. They are the ones coming to me, you know."

Kite was about to let out a long string of curses directed at Morganna and her puppet, but his words faltered as down the large hall, he espied Blackrose, Mimiru, Helba, Elk, Mia, Orca and Aura running (or floating) towards them.

"And here they are now. Right on schedule."

"Leave! Now," Kite cried, voice cracking in desperation. "Please! Don't… Don't you see it's a trap? Don't you see it's all… useless…"

"Shut up!" snapped Blackrose. "That isn't the Kite I know! He'd never give up; he'd never stop fighting."

"Amaya!" cried Mimiru, oblivious of the others and running towards her friend.

The heavy blade fell to her knees next to Tsukasa, picking up the limp wavemaster and cradling the girl in her arms. Tsukasa did not respond, but continued to stare at nothing in a catatonic manner. Mimiru stood up, holding the wavemaster in her arms. Aura actually looked… angry. The peaceful, somewhat mournful expression normally present upon her features had vanished, leaving raw anger, and, it seemed, a deeper grief. Helba seemed only mildly vexed. Elk, still ashen-faced, had a grim countenance as he stood close to Mia. The cat player, now, she was furious. Her fur stood on end, (especially on the tail), ears were back and her teeth were bared in a very cat-like display of agitation. Her sword was drawn and held in her hand, ready to be put to use.

Aura winced when she saw Tsukasa in Mimiru's arms, and hastened over. Ignoring the dark one – who had both of his queer blades drawn – the child of the World placed a hand on the wavemaster's forehead. A deep shuddering breath filled the wavemaster's lungs, then another. And then, her eyes focused for a brief moment before closing. And Tsukasa fell into a deep slumber of rest, healing, and a touch of forgetfulness. The human mind often takes steps to protect itself from trauma, pushing it into the deep recesses of memory, blocking it from thought.

Aura then spun to face the dark one, eyes blazing with anger. It was at this moment, of course, that the dark one leapt forward, but instead of striking at Aura, he struck at Mimiru (who was nearest besides the white figure ). The heavy blade, caught by surprise, cried out, all but dropping Tsukasa. Holding her friend protectively, the girl could not fight back, and the dark one scored several hits upon her before a blast of… something from Aura sent him flying.

Meanwhile, Mia and Elk were over by Kite, cutting and searing the vines away. Kite, freed from the bonds, collapsed, panting for a moment, before staggering to his feet. Stinging pain assailed every movement, and his skin was covered in red pricks and streaks, but the boy did not care. Picking one blade from where it had fallen from his grasp and drawing the other, Kite, with a nod to Mia and Elk, ran towards the dark one, leaping at him as he lay for a few seconds where Aura had flung him.

A/N

Aaaaand… this is where I'll end the chapter. Cruel, aren't I? Leaving y'all hanging like that? Methinks the final battle shall be battled and likely ended in the next chapter. By the end of next chapter, this story will surpass 100 pages on Word… Well, that includes an extra space between each paragraph.. but still! 100 pages!

Y'know… I don't much like this chapter… I don't know why… I mean, it's all right as far as chapters go, and certainly not the worst thing I've written, but…I dunno… -shrugs-

Oh.. In case you're wondering about what the yellow light is.. well.. watch episode uh… Tempest… I don't remember which number that is, but I do know it is on the 5th disc of the seiries…

Anyway… HUUUUURRRRRAAAAAAHHHHHH! I am at 100 reviews.. although the 100th is a review of me, by me. I just couldn't leave the count at 99! I'm sorry if one of you really wanted to be the 100th… But oh well…

To mah reviewers:

Twilight: Thanks. Oh. I've seen caricature spelled both ways. According to my spell checker, there isn't supposed to be an 'h', though. One or two more will be data drained…

Angel Yoshi: the next chapter will have lots of combat, I assure you.

Aeris: Thanks!

Arakasama: Hmm… Nice name! -blushes- Umm.. Just lucky, I guess? Actually, part of it is that I go to a private school and have gone there for my entire school career… Also, the school I go to tends to be ahead of most public schools in its curriculum. Thanks, though! I do try... I like school... I get bored during the summer. O.o Sometimes.

Shiner: Uh.. Thanks? Hope you like this chapter..!

Steeple333: I still am upping it to M. More for the violence than for that. I mean… I'm rather.. uh.. descriptive in my gore. And.. well… I think it's reached the point of rating upping. But I know what you mean about hugging and holding them. Muah… I feel sooo bad about what I do to the characters. ;;

Shadow Rave: Oh.. Kite gets his revenge.. well.. sort of, anyway… next chapter!

Twilight Memories: Akira can be a guy or a girl's name. I looked it up. It's also the name of a kick but manga series plus a movie. Of course I data drained Balmung! The sole reason I had him in the fic to begin with was to data drain him. Here's another evil cliffie for you!

Dragon's Hitokiri: Sorry Kite! I know I'm evil. But… if I wasn't evil to you, there'd be no story. –hugs Kite, but winds up getting a dagger thrust into my lung- oooooooooooouch! Aaaaah…. –whilest scrabbling for bandages, sics the evil version of Kite on Dragon's- -watches as the dark one cackles madly and joins Sora in poking-

Random Reviewer: Thanks! I promise I won't give up on it. I like this story a lot, so I know I won't stop writing until I'm done. As a bit of random trivia, I originally intended this story to be much longer.. and to involve a lot of the other characters' stories post-quarrentine. I started out doing that with Elk… and the short bit with Blackrose and Kazuo… But it just didn't work out that way…. O.o I also intended for the part with Kite to progress a little slower… Like, I was going to have the 'infection' spread a bit slower… Have it take longer for people to notice that Kite was slippin' under….. or something like that. Well… Oh well… I guess it's better this way.

To Me: -slaps- Why couldn't I be patient and wait for other reviewers?


	17. The End of It All

**Fragments of a Shattered Mirror**

_Disclaimer: I do not own, have not owned, and will never own Bandai or the .hack franchise, including the anime, games, manga and characters, situations, items, and places therein. I do, however, own this plot. It's mine. My own. My precious! Muahaha!_

_Futher Disclaimering: This is the end. This is the last chapter. Personally, I think this is the worst chapter I've written so far for this story, but… I've never been good with endings. The thing is, I can picture it perfectly, but I can't draw it… and I can't articulate it. Therefore, you're stuck with this. Any suggestions on how to write this chapter better are quite welcome! As for an epilogue… well… I ain't promising anything, but… I think there'll be an epilogue. I highly doubt there'll be a sequel._

Chapter 16: _The end of things_

The dark one rose to his feet, countering Kite's slashes just in time to avoid being sliced open. The two twin blades exchanged blows at a frightening speed, and, for fear of getting hurt themselves, the others dared not join the fray. Abruptly, both connected, and the force caused them each to fly backwards a short way. Both landed in crouches, and then paused, as if determining the wisest course. Suddenly, with an evil grin, the dark one was behind Mimiru, and he sliced across her back. At the same instant, both Kite's and the dark one's bracelets flared to life.

Kite cried out in alarm as a sickening shattering sound pierced the air around Mimiru. She stood as if stricken, staring ahead and holding Tsukasa tightly. Try as she might, the girl in the real world could not move a muscle, not even to blink an eyelid. She barely realized the controller had slipped from her grasp. With horrible clarity, Mimiru knew what was coming; she didn't cry out, however, until the dissolving, destroying beams of the data drain from bother bracelets converged upon her.

Aura tried to shield the heavy blade, but the data drain ripped right through the shield. Helba did her best to divert the data… or anti-data in this case… but to no avail. Kite tried to keep his bracelet from reacting, but, obviously, he failed. Elk, Orca and Mia could do naught but watch in horror as Mimiru's scream abruptly fell silent, and her digital body first dropped Tsukasa – who, as seen by her soft moan and the way she had writhed, had been partially affected by the data drain around her – then collapsed, turning gray and disappearing.

Kite fell to his knees, staring at where Mimiru had been. He shook his head as if in disbelief, though his face read utter despair. "Mimiru," he breathed.

Then, raw, unabated anger and self-loathing twisted his face and mood into a bitter fury. Staggering to his feet, Kite stared balefully at his dark clone. After a moment, a strange, grim understanding dawned upon the twin blade's face, and his lips curled into a savage smile to match the clone's. The dark one's caustic smirk faltered a moment; a flicker of uncertainty appeared.

"Kite?" queried Elk, tone decidedly freaked out.

Mia stepped towards the twin blade who had been her friend. Her sword was held at the ready. "Kite," she hissed. "You… It all stems from you."

"That is not true," said Aura, with an actually venomous glance at the dark one. "It has taken root in him, but it does not stem from Kite."

Blackrose was mute, gaping. She didn't know whether to be horrified, sad or angry, and if the latter, then at Kite or at Morganna.

Orca shook his head. "Kite…" He honestly didn't know what he could say.

The dark one opened his mouth to say something, but a soft moan from Tsukasa distracted him. The wavemaster had awakened, though by her pallor, sunken eyes, and haunted expression, she really ought to still have been asleep. However, that didn't seem to faze her much as she staggered to her feet, despite her body's tremors. As she stood, her staff appeared in her hands. Tsukasa, one hand holding her head, gazed at the others with hollow, though confused, eyes.

Kite, with a pained glance at the wavemaster, looked at Aura, then Mia, then at Helba. Then, the boy looked down, face betraying his defeat. "Yes," he murmured. "This is all my fault, really. If… Well… If a lot of things… But… I can't begin to ask any of you to forgive me. So, instead… instead," – he looked up at the dark one, gazing at the boy uncertainly, - "Please, just help me end this."

"H-how?" queried Blackrose.

Kite met her eyes. Blackrose was amazed at what she saw… amazed and deeply saddened. Kite had changed. He'd changed a lot. His eyes no longer had a bright sparkle; they no longer contained the courage and optimism she knew Kite for. Instead, there was deep-seated bitterness, pain, anger, fear, and a grim determination.

Then, Kite turned his eyes back to his shadow. Stepping towards the dark one slowly, one sword pointing at his nemesis, Kite spoke:

"Morganna, as you said, planted her roots in me. I am what she draws from to acquire both energy and power. I am her source. Now, if you kill off something's life source, it, too, will die. Ergo, if… if I die, Morganna has no source. And therefore, she has nothing to sustain her; she dies."

Tsukasa's eyes seemed to actually focus now, upon Kite. She shook her head slowly, though she made no effort to rebuke him. Instead, she slowly began to limp over to him. The others stared at Kite.

"Kite, no! There must be another way," said Orca.

"That's not.. Kite! You can't!" snapped Blackrose, voice quavering.

"So be it," said Helba with an air of sadness. "I will make sure Morganna is unable to separate from you, making your efforts meaningless. Or, if she does separate, I will make sure you don't die and that she is contained. But, I'll need your help, Aura."

"Kite…" said Aura. "Kite…" Then she nodded to Helba.

Elk stared, and Mia looked a bit less hostile. The cat player watched Tsukasa as the wavemaster stumbled over to the twin blade. Tsukasa put a hand on Kite's shoulder.

Softly, she murmured, "Akira… Don't go dying on me. Please. Now.. let's end this."

Kite nodded. The dark one looked on, a sneer upon his face, but a hint of fear in his eyes.

"Are you done chatting now?" he asked, tone bored, but a strange urgency was present. "Can we get on with it?"

Kite's cerulean eyes met the black of his dark clone for a long moment. Then, a grim smile curved Kite's lips, and he nodded to Tsukasa. She glanced sidelong at Aura, who nodded sadly. Then, the wavemaster stepped towards the dark one, barely able to walk even with the aid of her staff. Suddenly, Mia was at her side, helping the girl to move. The dark one eyed them warily, but with out much fear. No, it was Kite to whom the flicker of fright was directed.

The twin blade maintained his bleak smile as he held out his bracelet. It was quite visible to all as it unfurled itself. Strangely, however, energy crackled along its length. Small peals of white lightening sparking down its length and along Kite's arm. He paid it little mind, but the dark one stared at it in abject horror. Oblivious of Tsukasa standing before him, the dark one gaped. Then, with surprising swiftness, his expression morphed first to relief, then to one of smug irritation.

"Fools," he hissed. "Do you honestly think that by destroying that trinket you'll destroy me?"

It was both Tsukasa's and Kite's turn to smirk. Together, they said, "No."

Then, Tsukasa lifted up her staff and swung the smaller end hard at the dark one's chest. Somehow, it impaled the clone, and the girl thrust it straight through and into the pillar behind. Kite, at the exact same instant, let the raw energy of the bracelet fly, and he lifted, with the same hand whose wrist held the bracelet, one of his swords. Both Blackrose and Orca cried out as the blade pierced the boy's flesh, driven straight into the heart.

The dark one screamed as his bracelet, too, activated, black and white energy crackling through his body. Tsukasa, unable to move for she had collapsed upon her staff, smiled briefly, mirthlessly, before darkness took her. A moment later, beams of data and energy flashed out from the two bracelets, converging upon each other. Morganna screamed in fury and in agony as she felt herself be shredded and destroyed.

And then it was gone. The cry was abruptly silenced. The energy trickled to nothing, then dissipated completely. The dark one twitched once or twice, then collapsed, fizzling into nothing a moment later.

Kite, however, had not faded yet. Fallen on hands and knees, vision swimming before him, the boy held a tenuous grip on life, much less consciousness. Blackrose and Orca ran towards him, and the boy looked up, giving them the smile the both knew so well. Knew and loved. His two friends immediately prepared to cast healing spells upon him. Kite looked up at Aura, who stood halfway between him and Tsukasa, looking from one to the other with a pained expression. For a brief instant, the cerulean and azure eyes met. Then, Kite's eyes traveled to Tsukasa, around whom Mia and Elk knelt. And finally, even as Blackrose and Orca cast their healing spells, Kite's eyelids slid shut, and he collapsed.

Not even a resurrect spell or potion worked.

The same went for Tsukasa.

Each had fallen into a deep darkness…

"_You did it. I'll give you that."_

_:Mm… Amaya…:_

"_Yes?"_

_:um… :_

"… _umm…? What?"_

_: I… I… please… forgive me… I've caused you so much pain… I… :_

"…"

_:Amaya:_

"_Please. Let's start over."_

_:…:_

"_Hi. I'm Amaya."_

_:uh… Hi? I… I'm Akira… But most people call me Kite.:_

"_Pleasure to meet you, I'm sure."_

_:The pleasure's all mine…:_

"_Heh. See you on the other side…"_

**THE END**

A/N

I want to thank you all for taking the time to read (and hopefully review) my story. This is honestly the longest story I've EVER written. Without the epilogue, it is 98 and a quarter pages in Word. With the epilogue ( or epilogues ), it'll definitely top 100. I've put a lot of work into this story, and I hope you enjoyed it, despite the fact it was so bloody and dark. My theory as to why is that this was how I relieved stress I didn't realize I had. I wrote many of the darkest scenes during times when I was under a lot of duress. So… Note to self: If you want a happy story, don't write it when stressed.

Oh. After I write an epilogue, I will likely go back to edit and whatnot, so... Yeah.

I really want to thank all the reviewers I have, especially the ones who have reviewed over and over again. Your comments mean a lot to me, be they criticisms, praise, or just random things. Like poking wars. Therefore, I hereby dedicate this, the final chapter, to you. You know who you are, but I'm going to list off the people who've reviewed a lot and given me the best reviews:

Twilight Memories

Cassiopia

Dreamcaster555

Kitedragon

Dragon's Hitokiri

Theare-sama / Araka-Sama

Steeple333

Twilight

Wind Kaze (By the way.. you had better update Paradise Sin soon... )

Anyway, I appologize for the semi-sucky ending... Until I write an epilogue, it's up to you to decide what exactly happens next. Do they wake up? If so, what happens then..?

When and if I write an epilogue, then you can see my idea... Or ideas... I have a couple concerning what would happen. So don't expect it for a while...

Reviewer Replies:

Shiner: They're making another .hack game? O.O! -drools- Uh.. what does GU stand for? And when would come out? Is there a trailer somewhere?

Twilight Memories : Muahaha... I like cliff-hangers... It ensures people wanting to know what happens next. Oh dear... -thinks about Morganna and the dark one and that chapter- Let me add that to my list of things I really don't want to think about. And as for the bracelet... well... uh... -pokes this chapter- -sigh-

dreamcaster555: You cheater! -gasp- On a math assignment! Why...? Math is fun! Anyway, it's all right that you didn't review, so long as you're reviewing now. I understand the pain of being grounded. By the way, this is my last week of school. Next week is exams... Wish me luck!

kitedragon: Wow. Thanks for reviewing so many of the chapters. Heh. Actually, depending on where one is stabbed, one can survive for a while before dying from blood loss. Besides, it takes longer to write it out or read it, sometimes, than the actual event would occur. GU trailer? O.O! Where! Umm.. no.. I'm not obsessed... ... ... much. Yeah... I just gave up trying to keep to cannon with this... Re...laxing? All right... Well, writing it was thereputic in a strange way... It's not that I'm purposefully making him weak... I mean.. I haven't shown this as well as I think I could, but because Morganna's in his head, she messes with him a lot, so he's just really depressed and confused and... yeah... Gah... the problems of trying to convey what I see in my mind's eye to writing... Oh.. and with being stabbed. Yeah... cuts hurt... a lot. Especially paper cuts on your cuticles... XD With lemon juice. But, please don't kill me! Please!

Angelyoshi: No idea why I didn't like that chapter, actually... I think it was that I was unsatisfied with my writing, like you said. Also, I dunno... It just... I don't know... It's probably the same reason I didn't like this chapter.

Dragon's Hitokiri: Thanks. Yes.. it is unfair! Buahahahaha... Sora: -is knocked out- Kite: -keeps poking at Hitokiri- Me: -grins evilly-

Again.. THE END! Thanks everyone for taking the time to read this!


	18. Epilogue 1

** forFragments of a Shattered Mirror**

_Disclaimer: I do not own, have not owned, and will never own Bandai or the .hack franchise, including the anime, games, manga and characters, situations, items, and places therein. I do, however, own this plot. It's mine. My own. My precious! Muahaha!_

_Epilogues…_

_Note: Three different possible epilogues have I, one of which was inspired by Aeris in her most recent review. Two of them hold the possibility of a sequel, and for one of those two I actually have given serious thought of what a sequel would entail. Anyway, I will post the three versions of the epilogue as I write them, and you (the reviewers) can tell me which one you like best, or whatever… After some thought and rereading of my last chapter, I must say I kind of like the ambiguous ending… the italicized part. I just like it. O.o Which is probably why I wrote it that way… Anyway, the first version of the epilogue has been typed and here it is… Be warned: It's sad, well… one of the sad ones. Two of the epilogues are sad, actually. Personally, I don't like how this is written, but… It's kind of hard to articulate it I suppose. Err…. Enjoy?_

Epilogue number 1:

Rain drizzled from the sky in a mournful cascade, singing a whispering dirge, and perfectly in tune with Amaya's emotions as she stumbled along the damp gravel path between graves. Her movements were listless, and her eyes downcast, sorrowful behind her glasses. Her blue-black hair hung in dripping tendrils about her shoulders, some carrying the water into the collar of her trench coat. She didn't care. Whether she was dry or wet didn't matter to her today… one year… one year exactly after he died.

Reaching his gravestone, she halted in her trudging, only now looking up to read the name "Nakahara Akira" carved into the stone. No emotion flickered across her features at first; her expression was apathetic at best. She took a step towards the gravestone, paused, then took another. Reaching the foot of where the grave had been dug, she stared at it for a long moment. Then, emotion broke through and she fell to her knees in the wet grass, gazing at the name through tear filled eyes. A trembling hand reached out, a finger tracing the characters comprising the name. The hand fell limply at her side, and she returned to just staring.

When she'd awakened from her coma, a little over a week after it had all ended, the girl had been quite unsure how to feel about Akira… or Kite as everyone called him. He was still lost in the unnatural sleep at the time, so she couldn't talk with him, sort things out. But she'd had time to herself to think. Plenty of time. And she'd sorted out some of her feelings, but nagging questions still remained. Questions only he could answer…

But he'd never awakened. Kite had just faded, slipping farther under each day, his body withering away until finally… his life was no more.

At first, Amaya had been upset. No, upset isn't strong enough to describe how she felt. Furious and depressed at the same time comes closer. How could he! How could he just die like that? After everything… Why? Had he just given up and let himself slip away? Had Morganna taken him with her? Why didn't Aura and Helba find some way to separate the two? How dare he die! It just wasn't fair…

No. It just wasn't fair. It still wasn't fair. All the time in the world to think about it still wouldn't make it fair. Amaya missed him sorely, though she usually wouldn't admit to herself why. Perhaps it would be easier to admit if the two had a chance to sit and talk things over. To come to terms with all that had happened. But, that chance had been denied them. And now, Amaya would be hard pressed to explain why she grieved so much, why she felt an inexplicable desire to see him alive again, why she couldn't say good bye. The funny thing was it was so simple. She loved him. She loved him a lot. And now he was gone.

- + - +

A man, broad-shouldered with a kindly (though weary) face possessing strong features watched his surrogate daughter stumble over to a grave and fall to her knees beside it. A sad sigh escaped his lips as the girl burst into tears. Some day soon he hoped to see a sparkle in the girl's lavender eyes once more she smiled. She still refused to talk about what all had happened, and Bear, as he was fondly called by Amaya and Mimiru, had been forced to ask Mimiru and others about it. So, now he understood a little of Amaya's emotional turmoil this past year, but… There was more than the others involved knew, or would say. Maybe soon… soon Amaya would be able to tell him and others… And seek healing.

- +

Two figures exited the graveyard not long later. A man with his arm wrapped around a girl's shoulder. Despite the rain, the two turned into a nearby park, walking along the paths… talking.

A/N

Well, there you go. The first of three epilogues, and the one I like least. This epilogue is one that would not have a sequel.

Replies to my reviewers:

Dragon's Hitokiri: Thanks for reviewing again! Kite: -rubs head- Oooooowwwwww! Sora: -laughs at Kite- Boing! -bounces off of Hitokiri's head-

Dreamcaster555: Thanks!

Aeris Valeria: I emailed you on my school account.

Arakasama: Muah. My favorite endings usually are the sort where technically the good guys win, but it isn't a perfect ending. Hope you like this epilogue. Heh...

Twilight Memories: Muahahahaha! I am a murderer... I'm really excited about G.U. Can't wait until it's out! (Christmas, maybe? I know it comes out this year) I drooled all over the keyboard while watching the trailer. And yes... Kite in the trailer.. is kind of how I pictured an evil version of him... Wow.. Freaky. OH.. Random tidbit.. A while ago, an idea struck me that, since Mia was sort of a player version of Macha (the phase), what about other phases becoming players? I still have a bit of astory I stared along those lines saved, but it never went anywhere... Maybe Bandai hacked into my files or got telepathic.. Oh well... I really, really hope the game is as good as the other four, or better, if possible!.. The graphics are sure to be awesome...Write your own stories!

Angelyoshi: Goosebumps! You're comparing me to R.L. Stein? Hehe.. I like goosebumps, too.. Thanks! Yeah, I think I might make a sequel... Just not to this epilogue..


	19. Epilogue 2 the happy one

**Fragments of a Shattered Mirror**

_Disclaimer: I do not own, have not owned, and will never own Bandai or the .hack franchise, including the anime, games, manga and characters, situations, items, and places therein. I do, however, own this plot. It's mine. My own. My precious! Muahaha!_

_Epilogues…_

_Note: Three different possible epilogues have I, one of which was inspired by Aeris in her most recent review. Two of them hold the possibility of a sequel, and for one of those two I actually have given serious thought of what a sequel would entail. Anyway, I will post the three versions of the epilogue as I write them, and you (the reviewers) can tell me which one you like best, or whatever… After some thought and rereading of my last chapter, I must say I kind of like the ambiguous ending… the italicized part. I just like it. O.o Which is probably why I wrote it that way… _

_Anyway, the second epilogue is here. This one's definitely the happy one. I do hope you enjoy it. It certainly was fun to write. This one holds the possibility of an epilogue, since Amaya and Kite haven't really recovered. I don't really show or mention it too much here – I was having too much fun with character interaction – but wouldn't you think the events of this story would have a major psychological effect on both Kite and Tsukasa? I mean… look at all that happened… 0.o I know I'd change after experiencing that stuff. For instances like this, the maxim 'what doesn't kill you makes you stronger' probably does not hold true. Maybe 'what doesn't kill you haunts you and distracts you and makes you wonder about things and totally screws with your mind' would work better. But, that material would be for the sequel. _

_Nevertheless, that brings me to what I was going to say: Kite and Amaya are somewhat awkward around each other now (with good reason), even though it doesn't show in this epilogue. They have avoided really thinking about what's happened because they just don't want to. It's painful. (duh) However, at the same time, they kind of want to set it all straight, not only between them, but in their heads. So.. if I write one of my two possible sequels, then that would be what it would deal with, for the most part. Their adjustment to each other, and their trying to get over this incident. Yes, this sequel would most definitely have romance, but I assure you it would mostly take place in the real world, and it wouldn't be too long. What do you guys think?_

_For the other sequel idea, you guys'll have to wait until I write the third and final epilogue possibility. Oh, just a note: I won't take down any of the epilogues. I'll leave all three so that any and all readers will be able to see all three whether or not one is liked or loathed the most._

And now… our feature presentation:

Epilogue 2 (The Happy One…)

A week passed. Then another. Still, Amaya and Akira remained comatose. But then… Late one night… The one time when neither relative nor friend haunted the bedside, and when the nurses did not check quite so frequently, both adolescents opened their eyes, gazing at the ceilings of their small hospital rooms. Neither strong enough to move much, yet each finally awake, both stared at the ceilings as if they were gray-speckled tiles of heaven.

Since both were released on the same day, Kite and Amaya wound up leaving together.

"Come on, Amaya, Kite," begged Mimiru as she, Kite, Amaya and Yasuhiko sat in the hospital lobby/waiting room, waiting for Kite's parents – Mr. Sakuma, fondly called Bear by Amaya and Mimiru, was already there, but he was dealing with the last bit of paper work. "You've _got_ to be sick of hospital food… You know you want to go out to lunch. A new restaurant opened up, some foreign food place… Either Italian or Mexian, but both are pretty good. Besides, we need to get some flesh back on your bones. You're both skinny as a rail!"

Yasuhiko sighed at Mimiru's typical hyper wheedling. "Mimiru: Chill! Let them decide. They may not _want _to go out to eat. They may just want to get home. Heck, when they finally released me from the hospital, I know I was pretty desperate to get back home."

Mimiru glared at Yasuhiko. "Hey, when Amaya got out of the hospital last time, she and Subaru called me, then all three of us went out to lunch at a Sushi bar."

"But maybe this time is different," argued Yasu.

"Maybe it's not! You didn't hear Amaya complaining about the bland, tasteless and nearly unidentifiable food they forced upon her."

"Kite was complaining about it, too. Mimiru, I know what that stuff tastes like. But you can't jump to the conclusion that they want to go. Besides, the doctors told them to take it easy."

The argument went on with Yasu and Mimiru being oblivious to Kite and Amaya, who exchanged looks, each laughing to see their friends having a ridiculous spat. The two actually hadn't really been alone, except when sleeping, this past week, so they hadn't really had time to think things over, or to even talk with each other. Therefore, they were still awkward around each other. That aside, they weren't really sure if they wanted to go out to lunch. Both kind of wanted to be alone, and home was probably where they'd have the best chance.

Still… it would be nice to have something to eat other than the awful hospital food. With all the improvements in technology in recent decades, it was a wonder that no one had come up with a way to make good hospital food. Amaya could have lived happily without ever having to look at hospital food again after the first time; she could live even happier after the second. Kite, meanwhile, now had a new appreciation for his school's cafeteria food – which wasn't very good, but it was better than the hospital's meals.

Finally, growing a little tired of the argument, Kite interrupted. "You know," he said. "You could always stop talking about us as if we aren't here and just ask us."

Both Mimiru and Yasu looked properly chagrined, but only for a moment.

"All right then… Do you want to go out to lunch? Please!" pleaded Mimiru as Yasuhiko rolled his eyes.

Amaya shrugged, saying, "Only if Bear wants to…"

Kite sighed. "I would rather like to go home, and it depends on my parents. Speaking of which, I wonder what's taking them? Usually mother is obsessed about being prompt…"

Yasuhiko shrugged. He'd gotten a ride over with Mimiru and Mr. Sakuma, since his family was only back for the weekend – they'd moved two weeks ago. "Maybe they got stuck in traffic."

Mimiru beamed. "Great!"

"You just want an excuse to try a new restaurant," pointed out Amaya.

"Aw." Mimiru chuckled. "You discovered my secret. Hey, have you seen Subaru at all? Her uncle works here… I think he was one of the doctors who oversaw you guys."

"Yeah. Dr. Misono," murmured Amaya. "And the last time I saw Subaru was a few days ago when she came down. She's pretty busy right now."

"Oh? Doing what?"

"That's Marie's business and not Amaya's to tell," said Mr. Sakuma from behind Mimiru.

She spun around with a cry of, "Gah! Don't _do_ that, Bear… Anyway, why? What's up with Marie? Why is she so busy? Usually she has lots of time…"

"It's Marie's business to tell you if she has a mind," repeated Bear.

"Arg…"

Amaya laughed. Mimiru glared at her friend. And Amaya laughed more. Yasuhiko muttered something under his breath to Kite, and both burst out laughing, too. Since the comment had been about Mimiru, she directed her glare at Kite and Yasu, as well. Just as the laughter began to die down, a clear voice called from the door. They turned to look and saw three people: Kite's mother, father and another girl.

"Naomi!" cried Kite, springing to his feet.

The girl, who held resemblance to Kite – so obviously his sister – cried out, "Kite," and ran over. She stopped in front of her little brother, looking him up and down. (Mostly down, though, since she was taller. Apparently Kite had yet to obtain his teenage growth spurt.) Then, she lashed out, punching his shoulder.

"Ouch," moaned Kite, rubbing it and staring at his sister with confusion. "What the heck was that for?"

"You idiot! Do you know how much you scared me, little brother!" cried Naomi, her brown eyes (lighter than Kite's) wide and wet with suppressed tears. She then wrapped her arms around Kite, pulling him into a tight, sisterly embrace. "I'm so glad you're all right."

"I won't be if you keep cutting off my circulation," gasped Kite.

"Sorry," said Naomi, releasing him.

"Ah, now I remember why I like your sister," said Yasuhiko with a grin.

Naomi and Kite pointedly ignored him. The boy looked over his sister's shoulder at his parents. "So she's why you're late. Figures."

"Don't make me hit you again."

Kite sighed, shaking his head. He glanced over at Mimiru, Bear, Yasuhiko and Amaya. Then he looked back at his parents and his sister.

"Um… Mom, Dad, Mimiru keeps bugging Yasu and I to go out to lunch with her, Mr. Sakuma and Amaya… Can I go?"

Mr. and Mrs. Nakahara exchanged looks. Then, Emi said, "Well, I suppose, though I think Naomi will be accompanying you to make sure you don't get into trouble."

Kite interjected, "But Yasu's the one who always does things, and I always get blamed."

"I do not! And you do not!" said Yasu. "Besides, Naomi's done her fair share of trouble and then some."

Naomi put on her best I-am-an-angel expression. "I do not. How could you _ever_ think that?"

Kite stuck his tongue out at her. She retaliated in kind.

"We have to go deal with paperwork, as usual," said Mr. Nakahara, smiling to see his children alive, well, and being kids, especially Kite. When the boy had first come out of the coma, he had not been himself. He seemed deeply disturbed by something, but he was recovering from whatever it was. Still, he wasn't quite the boy he'd been before, but…

"So you kids go on ahead," finished Emi, smiling, too. "I trust you to keep them from wrecking too much havoc, Takeshi."

"No problem, Emi," replied Bear. Since Amaya's room had been right next to Kite's, Mr. Sakuma had gotten to know Mr. and Mrs. Nakahara, and even Naomi, a little bit.

Kite's parents then disappeared to the front desk to deal with insurance, release paper work, and all that lovely stuff which everyone, except a bureaucrat, hates. Amaya stood up from her seat, adjusting her jeans and smoothing out her shirt. Mimiru turned to Yasuhiko, a wide grin playing across her features.

"See? I _told_ you!" She jabbed Yasu with her finger.

"Oh, shut up."

"Say," said Amaya. "You two make such a cute couple!"

"Amaya!" exclaimed Mimiru in shock at her friend. "Oh my, no!"

Yasuhiko, too, stared at the girl, who was laughing at them. In fact, everyone except the 'cute couple' was laughing. Mimiru blushed crimson.

"She's right," agreed Bear, to which Mimiru let out an outraged squawk.

"Indeed," agreed Kite and Naomi at the same time.

"You know?" said Naomi to Amaya. "I think I might just like you."

Amaya arched an eyebrow at her. "How am I supposed to take that?"

Naomi shrugged. "However you want. It's just, you look kind of like this girl at my school whom I really hate. Except, she has red hair, blue eyes and freckles. But you both have similar haircuts, body shapes and glasses. In fact, I'd almost swear that's the same frame. Anyway, she's such an evil moron. I have no idea how she even managed to get into college, but she likes to play games with people. No, not like soccer, but emotional and mind games. And she's good at it, too."

"All righty," replied Amaya, laughing slightly. "I should hope I'm nothing like her, then."

"Well then," said Bear, breaking in. "While standing around talking is lovely, I'm rather hungry. I didn't get breakfast this morning."

"Why not?" asked Mimiru.

Mr. Sakuma made a face. "Too busy."

"With what?"

"Life. The Universe. Everything," said Bear. "And the number 42."

"Eh?" said Mimiru.

Amaya, and Kite, however, were laughing, as they'd read the book from which Mr. Sakuma drew his references. Naomi and Yasuhiko both looked as confused as Mimiru; they had not.

Bear smiled. "Nevermind. So… Am I the only hungry one?"

"I'm starved," said Mimiru.

"Let's eat," said Yasuhiko.

"Right then. Let's go!"

A/N :

Ok, so Japanese people might not go to an Italian or Mexican restaurant… But too bad! I can so totally picture Mimiru going to such a restaurant… -starts laughing at the thought of the others, such as Kite, ordering a taco-

Anyway, I'm working under the assumption that there are Japanese people who read British novels… And that brings me to a question:

Can any of you name the book and its author from whom I stole "Life, the universe and everything," and the number 42? If you've read this book, you, too, might get my wacked out sense of humor… X.x

Don't forget your towel… -.-

OH... For those of you who wish to see the uber-spiffy G.U. trailer, you can download it here, find links to screenshot things and whatnot, read a few theories, and yeah... at can download the trailer here: did. I've watched it like fifty times now... I have my own theories, but I won't tell them to you now. And no, I won't write them up in a story, although the idea of each of the eight phases becoming players has crossed my mind many times, and I even started to write a story about it. I'm not going to post it, since I didn't get very far in it. Ok, so I kind of wrote the first bit, but... I gave up on it. I have it saved somewhere thought, if anyone wants to read it.. I can email it to you... Not that I recomend it. I don't.

Reviewerly people:

Dreamcaster555: Thanks!

Sorry.. XD Had to do that to you. O.o Episode II really dissapointed me... It just... sucked, frankly. The special effects were cool, although I wish Ani had killed off Jar Jar Binks instead of the sand people...

Dragon's Hitokiri: Sora: Muahah! I am Immortal! -dodges sword- You suck at Kendo (the art of fighting with said wooden sword) Me: O.o Well, killing off a character is /never/ a sequel stopper. It's called ressurection and necromancy.. -shifty eyes- Hehe.. But no... no sequel for that one. Possible sequel for this one, however.. Kite: -still rubbing head- Yaaay! I'm not dead anymore! But why did you have to give me a sis who punches me? Me: Because. That's what I'd do if I were your sister... Kite: Oh, dear god save me from a sister like you! Me: -evil cackle- Unfortunately, my name is not Naomi Nakahara.. or Nakahara Naomi, if you go by the Japanese as opposed to American way... -.-

Twilight: I know! I would have posted my new story sooner, not to mention reviewed people's stuff IF F.F hadn't been messed... x.x You guys get to tell me which Epilogue you like best, and think matches best with the story. Eh.. with the last one, it wasn't that it was depressing so much as I didn't like how I wrote it... Oh well...

Kitedragon: No more violence? Oh gee... That's just so heartbreaking. Glad to see you again, though. . Eh... That's a good thing, then, if I make you say 'nice job' too much. It means I must be doing -something- right... .

angelyoshi: Nope. That one wasn't a sequel-worthy one. This one and the next one are, however. Gah.. I hated it when the server was overloaded... Couldn't upload... couldn't review...


	20. Epilogue 3 The End

**Fragments of a Shattered Mirror**

_Disclaimer: I do not own, have not owned, and will never own Bandai or the .hack franchise, including the anime, games, manga and characters, situations, items, and places therein. I do, however, own this plot. It's mine. My own. My precious! Muahaha!_

Epilogue numba # 3 

(Another sad one. This one, in my opinion, is sadder than the first one in a way, and yet it is so much better than the first one. I happen to like this one the best. You'll see why shortly. )

_Darkness. That's all there was. And that's all there would be for a long time. An eternity, or so it seemed._

Aura stood, or rather floated, through the Net Slum, blue-violet eyes flicking this way and that as if seeking something among the data refuse. The resident A.I.s greeted her as she passed, and they attempted to engage her in conversation. Aura nodded to them absently, but did not stop her search for simple pleasantries.

After a time of fruitless hunting, she grew more desperate, face twisted into an anxious expression. Passing swiftly through countless twisting roads running between the myriad of mismatched buildings, she almost didn't see the small opening. As it was, she had just gone by it before realizing its existence. Hurriedly, excitedly, Aura backtracked, staring down the long, narrow alleyway. Her eyes roved its length for a moment before she began to move down it.

The passage had no branches, or other openings, but it was long. Aura was beginning to wonder if she'd made some mistake when she emerged into a medium square. She stopped, skimming the entire area with hopeful eyes. Her expression turned disappointed, and she just began to turn to leave when a glint of red in the corner caught her eye.

Tentatively, the girl approached, a mixed expression of hope and dread filling her eyes. She stopped just in front of the red item and found it to be accompanied by another item. The crimson thing was but a flawless orb floating in the crook of a shepherd's staff. A broken staff. Only the curve and a few inches of the staff proper remained. The object accompanying it was a short blade, one of a pair a twin blade player might use. But its mate was missing. Gone forever, it seemed, just like the remnants of the staff. But they weren't. Not if Aura had anything to do with it.

She regarded the two objects sadly for a moment, then closed her eyes, holding a hand over the two items. A soft glow emanated from her hand, surrounding the dagger and stave fragment. Then, as it faded, Aura withdrew her hand, opening her eyes and backing away. A residual glimmer remained upon the two weapons for several moments. Then, with a strange abruptness, they vanished. Aura backed away more, floating into the air above the square, wishing only to observe now.

_A strong, yet gentle hand pulled them away from the darkness, from the numbness. It brought them to a misty sort of twilight… A gray dawn and a gentle return to awareness. Not consciousness so much as merely being aware that there were things besides black and gray. This, too, lasted a long time, though with each moment the light grew. And then…_

Two pairs of eyes opened – one set cerulean, the other lilac. They did not at first turn to look upon each other, but gazed at the strange patch of sky visible above and framed by the jagged tops of clunky, mismatched buildings. That sky, these buildings… they seemed so familiar, and yet the owners of the eyes could not place them, could not name them.

Pushing themselves to their feet, the two only now gazed at each other, staring eye to eye. One seemed familiar to the other; the other seemed familiar to the one. Yet feelings were the only things stirring within their memories. No name, though it seemed to dance just beyond the reach of thought, but only feelings…

The one of lavender eyes blinked and tilted her head to the side with a smile. "Hello," said she.

The one of cerulean eyes blinked back, lips curving into a crooked smile of their own. "Hey," said he.

"I don't know why," said the girl, taking a step closer to the boy. "But… I feel as though I've known you before."

The boy nodded. "And I you." He, too, took a step closer.

"This won't do at all, then," remarked the girl.

The boy gave her a puzzled frown. "What do you mean?"

She stuck out her hand. "If we've known each other before… Well… I don't remember your name. And I doubt you remember mine. That must be rectified."

He blinked at her hand, quirking an eyebrow. Then, he reached out and took it. The girl smiled.

"Hey. I'm Tsukasa," she said.

"I'm Kite," returned the boy, grinning as well.

"Pleased to meet, or re-meet you."

"The pleasure's all mine."

Kite and Tsukasa strode hand in hand down the long, narrow passage and into The World. Coming out of the maze of twisting passages that made up this strange place, they emerged in a broad clearing, of sorts, with a crooked arch-type gateway. Blazoned upon the top of the arch were the words "Welcome to Paradise." Behind the arch, a glorious sunrise paved the way for a beautiful day.

Aura watched them sadly from above. And yet… she was happy for them. They remembered nothing of this world or their own. And that was for the better. They could be happy, untroubled by dark memories and terrible dreams. They could have a new life…

Aura still watched them as the pair walked around the gate to sit upon the edge of the cliff there. She smiled to see them lean against each other, Kite's arm around Tsukasa's shoulders, and Tsukasa's head upon Kite's shoulder.

"Paradise indeed," whispered Aura, leaving as the pair gazed off into the dawn. "Paradise indeed…"

_**The End**_

_**

* * *

**_

_Author Notes… THE FINAL ONES FOR THIS STORY! –sniffle-_

First things first: Notes concerning this Epilogue:

In case I was too subtle, and you didn't get it… Kite and Amaya are dead, or at least permanently comatose in the real world. Ergo, Aura decides to give them a new life. Why in the Net Slum? Because all excess, 'deleted' and trash data tends to collect there. Any remnants of Kite or Tsukasa's data would be there. You can piece together the rest, no?

If you have any questions about this or any bit of my story, please feel free to either drop me a line on my email (but be sure to put "About Fragments" or something like that so I don't delete it) or say so in your review. If your email address is either accessible through F.F. or posted in your review, I will reply to your reviews of this, the absolute final chapter of Fragments of a Shattered Mirror.

Y'know… Come to think of it, this REALLY needs a better title. I mean, if I made a sequel off of this Epilogue, or the last one, 'Fragments of a Shattered Mirror' would work so much better as a title for those stories than it would for this. So.. If you have any suggestions as to the title, I'm quite open.

At some point in the future, I will be editing this story and possibly rewriting parts of that. If you really want to read it again in its revised (and hopefully improved) state… Um… When I get around to actually re-posting chapters, I will be sure to put a note in bold on my lookup somewhere. However, don't think that this will happen any time soon. It won't. I have other stories to work on and I really need to forget about this story for a bit before I go back and edit. That way, when I do edit, I will (hopefully) be more impersonal in my corrections and cuts. It's hard rewriting and fixing your own work, believe me. Oh, that reminds me! If anyone has an overwhelming urge to help me with this process, I will be much obliged. Either tell me in your review, or drop me a line at my email.

Next order of business:

A cast of characters… Their names in the World and in the real world (if applicable)… And I know some of them didn't appear in this fic, but I refer to them at some point or other.

**Starring:**

Kite – Nakahara Akira

Tsukasa – Yamamoto Amaya

**And Introducing…**

Evil Kite – Dark Clone – Morganna

Dusk – Morganna

Morganna's evil voice – Morganna

In other words… Morganna…

**Cast:**

_Nakahara Family_

Akira

Emi

Naomi

Kite's Dad

_Akira's friends_

Orca - Nishimura Yasuhiko

Elk – Moro Hidezki

Mia - Maha - Macha

Blackrose - Akemi

Balmung

Helba the enigmatic hacker

_Yamamoto Family_

Amaya

Yoshi

Kai (Amaya's dead mother)

_Amaya's Friends_

Mimiru – Kurosawa Mimiru

Mimiru's mother

Bear – Sakuma Takeshi

Subaru – Misono Marie

Sora

_Artificial Intelligence_

Aura

Morganna

Dark Kite

_Everyone else…_

Dr. Misono

Nurse 1 – Shinji

Nurse 2 – Keiko

_Thank you to ALL my reviewers (even the ones who stopped reviewing):_

dreamcaster555

Sarah

Alex Warlorn

Seia

Spirit Alleron

Shar-dono

Sesuna

Mack

kitedragon 

Twilight Faerie

TsukasaTheFoaminian

LittlePeepersLostTheirSneakers

Murgatroyd

WaveMasterAries 

Minako

Steeple333

Macky

twilight

Second Hand Devotion

angelyoshi4444 / Cassiopia

Arakasema

windchaser90

Wind Kaze

Twilight Memories

Andrius O'Conner

AerisValeria

Shadow Rave

Shiner

_A special Thank You to the following people/ things:_

Aeris for giving me the idea for this final epilogue

Dragon's Hitokiri for an entertaining poking war thing

Cat (my cat) for serving as a foot warmer

The assorted dragons who hang out with me and happen to be my muses

The laptop upon which I have written most of this story

Liz (from my school) who is one of two people I know outside of F.F. to have read this story, although she does not have an account here and has not reviewed it on this site. She just tells me what she thinks.

Sesuna / Kenneth / Goten / The guy obsessed with Herps, (not a typo!) who is the other one of those two people. He does have an account here, although he's been without Internet for quite some time.

My bed. My pillows. My blanket.

My iPod. I love listening to music.

Starbucks for selling bottled Frappachinos… Mm… Chocolate coffee….

Caffine in general

Chips, chocolate, and other assorted snacks

My desk and desk chair

The computer with Internet from which I upload just about everything.

Mozilla, the best Internet browser… EVER

Microsoft Word

Assorted notebooks, pens and pencils.

My brain. My sick and twisted brain.

Youth which allows me to stay up repeatedly until about three, then get up three hours later and go to school and still be relatively all right.

Did I mention coffee?

And.. the following music artist-group-things whose music inspired, distracted, or provided background for me: (In absolutely no order whatsoever) (keep in mind that for many of these, I only listened to one or two songs by them due to the fact that I have a bunch of soundtracks…)

Simon & Garfunkle

Nirvana

Bowling for Soup

The Cheiftains

Yo-Yo-Ma (crouching tiger, hidden dragon)

Monkees

Eurythmics

Ventures

Red Hot Chile Peppers ( I love their music! )

Weird Al Yankovic

ABBA

Avril Lavigne

J. S. Bach

American Hi-Fi

Bangles

Beach Boys

U2

Cat Stevens

Cheap Trick

Christina Vidal

Culture Club

Dan Powel

David Bowie

Don McLean

Duran Duran

Assorted DDR songwriter people… Err.. The DDR tunes ran through my head a lot… specially the Trance music…

DaRude

Harold Faltermeyer

Queen

James Galway

Kenny Loggins

Larry Greene

Loverboy

Mamas and the Papas

Lindsey Lohan

Marietta

Monty Python ( I'm a Lumberjack and I'm Ok…)

Mr. Farrenkopf (Err… He wrote our high school musical. He's an English teacher at my school.. And he wrote all the music, too.. And if you ever see the show Lunchlady: Tater Tots of Love performed anywhere, think of me.. because I was in it in its original showings… And on Tuesday, we're doing a cast recording. Go us! Aaanyway, the show is actually really good! )

Sheryl Crow ( I'm gonna soak up the sun!)

THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS!

Tom Lehrer

Andrew Lloyd Webber

Whoever wrote the music to Sleeping Beauty

Whoever wrote the music to Princes Bride

Whoever wrote the music to Pirates of the Carribean

Whoever wrote Ashokan Farewell

Whoever wrote the music of Final Fantasy V & VI

Whoever wrote the music to Edward Scissorhands… Danny Elfman, I think

Whoever wrote the music to any of the .hack things… I wish I had CDs of them…

Whoever wrote Miserere.. Allegri, I think

Pachelbel

Raph Vaughan Williams

And finally… Peter, Paul and Mary.. whose song Puff the Magic Dragon would NOT get out of my head, following a rather… uh.. interesting and not too shabby claymation film (in which I swear I and Joey did ALL the work.. and I did more than him because I did all the claymation… and the clay figures… and part of the filming… and I wrote the damn script… And I put together the set… And I directed the damn thing…) You see.. the film was for Biology as a random project… we were doing the Carbon cycle… and it was starring a random clay dragon I made, among other things, so we started the film by playing Puff the Magic Dragon.. who lived by the sea… and frolicked in the autumn mists of a land called Honilee… arg!

Err…

Sorry for that exceptionally long list of thanks… What can I say? I have insomnia… And I don't have to get up tomorrow… (well today in four minutes)…

Anyway, onto **review replies**…

**Twilight**: Well.. this is the last time you need check up on /this/ story. You can go read my other stories. Please? The links are on my userlookup... Sure, I'll send you the story, just as soon as I find where I saved the document. I -think- it's on the laptop, but I'm not sure. It's been quite a while since I worked on it. Err.. as for killing of Kite... I, uh, aim to please? (Kite glares at me, muttering coments best left unposted) And Balmung, well, he and Mimiru pop out of their brief comas almost immeadiately. Er.. When/if I write the sequel(s), I'll mention them, I'm sure. I just couldn't figure out a convenient way to mention Balmung, since he's away at college and thus, no where near Kite & co. Invisible Ninjas beg? Sweeet! -takes a picture with her invisible ninja camera-

**Arakasama**: Busy life is all right. The only reason I'm able to update things so quickly at the moment is because, for once, I'm not busy. You know what? I think we're on the same wavelength. The first ending I pictured kind of like I'd picture the ending of a movie, and the second ending ran through my head anime style. It was pretty funny, actually, picturing the various anime-ish poses and things... like the pulsing temple, and the sweat drop... XD This one, however, seems to me to be more of a book ending. Ergo, that's probably why I like it best. I've read all five of the Hitchhiker's 'trilogy' and I like them very much. I haven't seen the movie, though... ;.;

**Dragon's Hitokiri:** Kite: . oy vey... -just leaves- Sora: Boing! me: Hmm.. Thanks for reviewing, again... -shifty eyes- Muahah -steals Crim's Grunty's sunglasses-

**Twilight Memories** : Err... Maybe I got the Yasu & Mimiru pairing from you. I don't know. It just occurred to me that the two fighting like that would be hilarious and somewhat expected, considering the time they'd spent in close proximity, waiting for their friends to wake up. Err... Well.. all questions will be answered when G.U. comes out for the PS2 later this year...

**Angelyoshi: ** Yes.. That epilogue was better than the first one. And I think this one is better than the first one, too. Hope you like it. -does a little dance- Summer is here!

**Kitedragon**: Well, I've never had Asian cafeteria food, and I agree that hospital food really isn't that bad. I've eaten in hospital cafeterias when relatives have been in the hospitals. But, personally.. I think living on that stuff nurses bring you for a week would be awful. Besides, some cafeterias are better than others.

You guys still reading the page? -sigh- There's nothing else... Go read my other fanfiction!


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